


Maybe

by avatays



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Assassination Attempt(s), Assassination Plot(s), Bending (Avatar), Bending Element Swap (Avatar), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fake Character Death, Firelord Zuko (Avatar), Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Ty Lee/Mai/Zuko/Sokka (Avatar), Multi, Non-Graphic Violence, Parenthood, Post-100 Year War (Avatar TV), Pregnancy, Zuko (Avatar) is Bad at Feelings, because they’re co-parenting, bisexual main characters, listen like most of them are bi i don't make the rules, spymaster sokka au, talks and references sex but not in detail, they're all bad at feelings except for aang tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:55:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26042290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatays/pseuds/avatays
Summary: It’s easy to find your soulmate when they’re a bender. Sokka had kept his bending hidden away when he realized what it meant. His soulmate was a firebender. Unfortunately, it didn't take him long to figure out who his soulmate was. The Fire Lord, however, didn’t.Until he did.But no one else knew that the Fire Lord’s husband was a firebender as well. It was an arranged marriage. So, when a secret society set on overthrowing the royal line rose up, they underestimated him; they thought he would be an easy target.They thought wrong.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 81
Kudos: 807





	1. Maybe Things Will Change

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Those Who Favor Fire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25415320) by [CSHfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSHfic/pseuds/CSHfic), [VSfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VSfic/pseuds/VSfic). 



The legend always said when you touch your soulmate for the first time, you can bend their element.

Of course, that makes things difficult if you’re both nonbenders. It’s much harder to find your soulmate in that case, but Sokka was never one to turn down a challenge. Besides, there weren’t any other waterbenders in the South Pole besides his sister, so surely the odds were pretty high that his soulmate was a nonbender. He’d go to some of the surrounding villages when he got older, try and find someone. Hakoda had always told them that he didn’t need bending to know their mother was his soulmate; he could just feel it. He’d always taught Sokka to trust his instincts, and he supposed that this would just be another test.

Some benders are able to bend _two_ elements when they find their soulmate. The nations don’t intermingle like they used to, but when they were young, Gran-Gran had told Sokka and Katara stories of people of different nations who found each other against all odds. She claimed her grandmother knew a waterbender and an earthbender who were soulmates; they could each bend two elements, and they bonded over teaching each other their own bending style. Sokka had watched Katara’s eyes shine with hope at their grandmother’s words. He could only wish that she got that one day. Who knows, maybe she would marry an earthbender, too. He had thought it’d be cool if he could marry a bender. Maybe if they ever got in contact with their sister tribe again, he could find a girl up there. Maybe...

But _maybe_ s don’t help now. They’re in the middle of a war.

Besides, Sokka wasn’t a big believer in all that spirit mumbo jumbo, so if someone were to tell him that soulmates were nonsense, he’d probably believe them too. He’ll find someone, soulmate or not. He was sure of it.

Then the iceberg happened. When Katara found Aang, it was simple. There was no one else who could have been able to bend all the elements. After Aang had been revealed as the Avatar, after he boarded the boat with the Fire Nation prince – the prince that Sokka had fought against, who had given him a weird look for just a moment, and Sokka couldn’t figure out what it meant – Katara had let out a fit of rage. She had screamed at Sokka, at Gran-Gran, at everyone, that she was going to go rescue him. And when Sokka had touched her arm, she had rounded on him to start yelling again –

And fire shot out of her mouth.

Normally, it would be pretty cool. If not for the fact that it was fire. Katara immediately started panicking. Was her soulmate a firebender? No, it couldn’t be. No one on the ship had touched her, and except for the ship responsible for their mother’s death, she had never even seen a firebender before. And no one had touched her then either.

Which left only one possible solution.

Katara’s soulmate was the Avatar.

She kept it to herself for a short while. Aang was already on the path to learn waterbending, he probably wouldn’t even know until she told him.

But when she brought it up after she had calmed him from the Avatar state in the Southern Air Temple, he had simply given her a weak, almost sheepish, look. “I knew,” he said. “I saw you in a vision. Before I was frozen.”

“Maybe the spirits brought us together for a reason,” Katara had told him gently.

He had smiled. “Maybe.”

And Sokka was so happy for his sister, for Aang. And he wasn’t jealous. Not at all. Until he met Suki. And he didn’t... _feel_ anything. Sure, he liked her. He was crazy about her. But the completely heart-stopping, soul-seizing moment his father described... it didn’t happen.

Maybe he was doing it wrong.

It wasn’t until the North Pole that everything changed.

He _thought_ he had felt it with Yue. But fate had different plans for her. It was heartbreaking. Could it have been that his soulmate was always destined to become the moon spirit? That would be cruel, that would be... he would be even more devastated that he already was, if that’s possible. But maybe the spirits got it wrong. Maybe he didn’t have a soulmate at all. If it wasn’t Suki, it wasn’t Yue, who else could it possibly be?

Then they left the North Pole. And they were in the swamp. And he could’ve – it’s impossible, he had tried so hard to shake the very idea of it out of his mind –

He could’ve sworn he had firebent at a tree. When Yue had appeared, he had panicked, he’d thrown an arm out when he tripped over a root, and he could swear he saw a small flame and sparks.

But it was just the swamp, right? It’s a weird place. Maybe...

He tried it again when they left the swamp. Katara and Aang had already gone to bed, and he had stayed up in camp in front of the fire. He had focused and tried to move it and –

Nothing happened.

It must’ve been a fluke, he told himself. The swamp was a freaky place, it must’ve messed with his mind.

And then he did it again, right before they’d found Toph. But he wasn’t about to tell everyone else. He didn’t even know who it could be. It hadn’t started happening until they left the North Pole. He’d fought a few firebenders during the siege, but he had always thought it was skin to skin contact that was necessary to make the soulmate bending appear. And he couldn’t remember touching any firebender’s skin. Well, maybe Prince Zuko after they’d found him and Aang in the tundra and Katara knocked him out. He and Aang had loaded him onto Appa so he didn’t freeze to death. But that’d be ridiculous, he could’ve sworn there was no direct contact.

But maybe –

No. It was someone else. Maybe he’d fought some firebender before the North Pole and it just didn’t come out until the swamp. That must be it. And if he’s lucky, he’ll never run into them again.

He was content with this decision. He would simply ignore the idea of his soulmate. Easy enough.

Except it wasn’t.

The more he tried to ignore it, the more of an ache he felt in his chest, and it only grew by the day. And he could only think of when he found out their mother had been killed – he had seen it happen. He was beside dad, trying to help fight, no matter how much Hakoda kept telling him to go back to the hut, to find Gran-Gran or Katara and stay hidden with them. And it had seemed okay, they were winning, they were going to be okay –

And then Hakoda had doubled over and clutched at his chest like he was having a heart attack. He took shallow breaths, and looked at Sokka with tears in his eyes, barely choking out the word, “ _Kya_.”

Sokka didn’t know what it meant at the time. But he knew something had happened to their mother. That clenching in his chest – was that what his dad had felt? Had something happened to _his_ soulmate? Logically, he knew he shouldn’t care what happened to a firebender he couldn’t remember, that he likely didn’t even actually know. But his heart told him differently. What if something had happened? What if he was hurt? What if –

Wait, when did he start referring to his soulmate as a ‘he’? How did he know?

Later that night, he had asked Aang around the campfire what it felt like when your soulmate wasn’t there, how you could tell it’s them. And Aang had smiled and told him all about what the monks had taught him, the spirituality behind soulmates, and Sokka would have interrupted and asked him to stop talking – if he had gotten his answer yet.

“What about... if you don’t remember touching them. Hypothetically, if someone didn’t know who they touched, they didn’t know gender, name, anything – would they still get their soulmate’s bending? Would they know anything about them in that... dumb soulmatey way that everyone says exists?” Aang had stared, and he tacked on, “Hypothetically, of course.”

“Yeah,” Aang had said, half-confused, half-amused. “I suppose you could figure it out. The spirits would try to lead you back to your soulmate if you didn’t know for sure. Maybe they’re giving you clues, to try and bring you guys back together.” When Sokka had opened his mouth, Aang added with a smirk, “Hypothetically, of course.” He had paused for a second, then said, “The spirits don’t make mistakes. If you met your soulmate, it’s just how they intended. You’ll find your way back to them eventually. And listen to your gut – your heart – whatever is telling you about them, just pay attention to it. I could teach you some meditation techniques if you want to try and see a face?”

Sokka didn’t want to. He was too afraid of who he would see.

“Thanks for the offer, but no. If you’re right, I’ll see him – _them_ soon enough.” Sokka swore at his slip up. He hoped Aang hadn’t noticed.

If he had, he didn’t bring it up. Sokka had gone back to his tent that night, more confused than ever. Why were monks so cryptic? Was it on purpose, or was it the spirit’s fault? Sokka was leaning towards a mix of both.

And then Azula had taken Ba Sing Se. And then Aang had been struck by lightning. And then Katara had cried and screamed because when she tried to do any form of bending besides water, she couldn’t. He was gone.

Until he wasn’t.

And then he opened his eyes after Katara had used the water from the spirit oasis. And she cried some more, and held him as they flew away from the Earth Kingdom, looking to find refuge somewhere, _anywhere._ And when Aang closed his eyes again, she had kept a hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat, and with her other, she had swirled the air around her, bending it, and she sighed in relief. He was going to be okay. She could feel it.

Zuko had betrayed them. And it hurt. A lot. And Sokka couldn’t figure out _why_. He hadn’t even seen Zuko in months, not since they’d all first met Azula, and they certainly didn’t talk to each other – so why did this betrayal feel like he had been punched in the chest?

Maybe he was just angry on his sister’s behalf. She was the one Zuko had betrayed, she was the one who Zuko had tried to swindle back in the catacombs. Maybe he’d even known the spirit water was the only thing that could save Aang if Azula hit him, and he was trying to get their saving grace out of the picture. Maybe he had been in on it with Azula all along. Maybe...

But it didn’t _feel_ right. To think he was evil. It felt like it should be right, his brain told him that Zuko was an irredeemably bad person, a true firebending prince who only cared for himself.

He would’ve liked to believe it. It would’ve been easier that way. If his gut hasn’t been telling a different story.

Months later, Zuko came to them and offered to teach Aang firebending – well, offered might not be the best word, he gave himself as their prisoner if they chose to take him as one, he had practically begged them to let him join their group. And after their encounter with Combustion Man, it was hard to ignore that maybe Zuko was actually on their side. _Maybe_.

So Sokka had avoided him.

And then everything changed when they went to Boiling Rock. Because every time Zuko left his line of vision, he felt frantic. The hole in his chest swelled, and he hated it. And Zuko would touch his arm, tell him he would stand by him whatever he decides to do, and he hated it. And when they’d gotten Suki and his father and were escaping on the gondola, Zuko would constantly step in front of him to take a shot of fire from Azula, because he could throw it back at her, and he – Zuko didn’t know that Sokka could’ve done it himself... Maybe. He hadn’t really tried to firebend, he had avoided it like the plague. But now that Zuko was here, maybe he should ask...

And then the war was over. And they could go _home_.

But where’s home now? Home was on Appa. Home was with Katara, and Aang, and Suki, and Toph. And with Zuko. He went back to the South Pole. Aang had stayed with them for a few months after Zuko’s – _Fire Lord_ Zuko’s – coronation. Aang sent plenty of letters and was trying to do business from there, but it wasn’t working. He needed to be in the Earth Kingdom somewhere, trying to fix what had been broken amongst the colonies. He needed to be in Caldera, helping Zuko figure out what they should do to keep the peace. He needed to be in the Air Temples, coming up with ways to keep his culture alive when he, inevitably, dies. He couldn’t be the last airbender. The world was already out of balance with only one airbender, but Aang was thirteen. Surely he had time to figure this out. And if the councils thought he didn’t – well, they’d have Katara’s wrath to contend with.

So Aang had to leave. And Katara went with him, with their father’s blessing. And Sokka had stayed. He wished he hadn’t. He missed being in warm places. He missed doing warrior training with Suki, he even missed getting beat up with rocks by Toph.

He especially missed Zuko. But he couldn’t say that part out loud.

It was the two year anniversary of the end of the war. Sokka was eighteen, Zuko almost nineteen. Those two years seemed to have matured them all, and they didn’t get to see each other as much as they wished they could. They all got together to visit Zuko in the palace every few months, since it was much harder to get him away, but it just wasn’t enough.

So when Hakoda presented him with an official letter from the sages of the Fire Nation, asking for representatives of the tribes to come for an emergency meeting, Sokka jumped at the chance to come with. Suki had recently started working with the Kyoshi Warriors as Zuko’s personal bodyguards, after an attempt on his life, and he knew that Zuko was in good hands. He would finally get to see Suki and Zuko again, it felt like it had been ages.

When they got off the ship, Sokka practically ran up to the palace. Suki had seen him first when he was rushing around the halls, much to the disdain of the soldiers there, who knew better than to demand he stop. They’d tried before, but the Fire Lord had gotten snippy when they’d tried to order Sokka around, so now they kept their mouths shut.

He crashed into Suki in her full Kyoshi armor, and swung her around in his embrace. She laughed and shoved him when he finally let go.

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” Sokka told her breathlessly.

“Mmm,” she said thoughtfully, tapping her closed fan against her chin in faux consideration. “I’m sure there’s _one_ other person you missed more.”

Sokka blushed pink to the tips of his ears. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do,” she sang to him with a smirk.

Damn Suki and her brain, she’d known since their excursion from the Boiling Rock that he and Zuko had... _something_ going on. She didn’t know what that something was though. Neither did Sokka for that matter. Zuko was protective of him, sure. However, it doesn’t seem like Zuko liked him romantically. He definitely doesn’t know that they’re soulmates. Zuko was nothing if not tactless, so if he had even a suspicion, he would’ve approached Sokka as soon as the thought occurred to him.

“Why are you here anyways?” Suki asked, looping her arm though his and walking them down the hall to the Fire Lord’s office.

“Dad got invited, Bato and I decided to tag along. Some important council meeting that impacts the whole world, I guess, what else is new?” This would’ve been more exciting news if they hadn’t already saved the world from pure destruction in its most raw form. So _political_ world endings? Those are old news, and pale in comparison.

Suki sighed. “Dammit, I knew this would happen.”

“What?”

“Zuko’s almost nineteen. He should’ve been looking for prospects a while ago,” Suki said with a roll of her eyes, as though this was merely a nuisance instead of groundbreaking news. “They’re probably trying to set up a marriage for him. The only reason they would’ve called the other world leaders is to check if they have anyone in political power to offer. Barbaric, right?”

It certainly was. And he felt rage and jealousy bubbling in the pit of his stomach, and he had no idea how to make it stop.

Suki stopped their walking, and examined him carefully. “Are you alright? You don’t have to go to the meeting.”

Sokka shook his head. “No, I should be there. Zuko’s going to need someone in his corner, and my dad won’t yell at those old sages, he’s got too much class. I, on the other hand...”

Suki laughed. “Spirits, it’s good to have you back here.”

Sokka returned her grin with a playful nudge to the side. “Back at ya.”

When they finally stood in front of Zuko’s office, Suki had said she needed to go begin her rounds, which Sokka knew was a lie, judging by the sly look she gave him. So Sokka sighed and knocked on the door, without Suki as a buffer.

“Enter,” a voice on the other side of the door said.

He opened it, and saw Zuko sitting in front of a large stack of papers on his desk, carefully making notes on the edges with a quill. He’s wearing those long robes that made him look just as royal as he is, and the crown atop his head was slightly askew, with a few loose hairs having fallen from place. He was also approaching Zuko on his left, and since he couldn’t see well out of that eye, he knew Zuko hadn’t seen him yet. Sokka cleared his throat. “Does the Fire Lord perchance have a moment to greet a humble commoner?”

Zuko’s head snapped up from the papers at the sound of his voice, and he smiled widely. It set Sokka’s heart aflutter. He stood up and rushed to him and swept him into a warm embrace. Zuko was always warm, something Sokka found very appealing. It was like snuggling a heat lamp or a polar bear dog, with how hot he ran.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko asked when they separated. He was still grinning.

Sokka shrugged. “Oh, can’t a pal come visit? Dad’s here for a world council meeting, I wanted to tag along. I missed you, you know.”

The words left his lips before he could stop them. Zuko’s cheeks tinged pink, before he cleared his throat and said, “Well, I missed you too.” There was a knock on the door, and Zuko sighed heavily and took a step back from Sokka. “Come in.”

“Pardon me, your majesty,” the shorter of the two guards at the door said as they both bowed lowly. “But the meeting for tomorrow has been moved up. The sages thought it wise to do it as soon as possible, since all the world leaders have already arrived.”

Zuko scowled. “Fine.” He turned to Sokka. “Will you come with me? I mean – will you be there?”

Sokka clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Sure, Zuko. As long as you want me to be.”

Zuko grinned at him and gestured to the guards to lead the way.

“Wait,” Sokka said. He reached up and straightened the crown, repositioning the hair pin so it was no longer crooked. “Okay, now we’re ready.”

Zuko flushed but smiled gratefully at him. The two walked in a companionable silence behind the guards until they reached the throne room. Zuko’s smile fell. They all knew how he felt about this room. He hated it. He tried to be in here as little as possible, but it was one of the only rooms with a big enough table to sit all these important dignitaries. When Zuko walked in, everyone stood. He rose a hand, and they sat back down. Sokka squeezed his arm encouragingly, before going to sit next to his father. Zuko took his seat at the head of the long table, and Sokka just now noticed how the Southern Water Tribe representatives were closer to him than they had been the last time they’d made a business visit. He was only a few seats away from Zuko, and it felt nice to be able to see him, especially knowing that Zuko would call on him for back up if something happened.

One of the sages stood up. “Welcome, everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice.” He stretched out his arms and looked towards the ceiling. “May Agni and the spirits guide us in our meeting today.” Everyone lowered their head respectfully, and he continued, “I am Zaiu, head of the sages. It may have come to your attention, that the Fire Lord is yet to be married; he has humbled us with his blessing, and has agreed that if there are offers for a political alliance, he will hear it out, and we shall all make a decision that is best for the world.”

The dignitaries began mumbling amongst themselves. Zuko stood and took the lead. “I know this is a strange predicament, but if I want my sister to have no claim to the crown, I’m supposed to make sure there’s a successor. My father and mother were already married by this age, and I suppose it’s time I get a move on.” He was doing his best not to sound bitter, Sokka could tell. Zuko may have agreed to this, but he didn’t seem happy about it.

“We can begin with children of marrying age, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four,” Zaiu said, and a few people put their hats in the ring. It didn’t look like Zaiu was too happy with their offers; Sokka didn’t recognize them, so none of them must be too high up on the food chain.

Zaiu turned to King Kuei, who sat on Zuko’s left, as the most politically powerful person in the room – after the Fire Lord himself. “I heard you have a daughter, King Kuei,” Zaiu said.

Kuei smiled. “Ah, yes. However, I’m afraid she will not be an option.”

“Why not?”

“She’s still a baby,” Kuei said easily, with a supportive glance towards Zuko, who seemed grateful for the look of encouragement from the king.

Zaiu was starting to get frustrated, Sokka could tell. He thought it was funny though. One time, Zaiu got so angry that steam came out of his ears. Sokka had been escorted from the room for laughing. (He still thought it was worth it. Zuko did, too.)

Zaiu looked around the table, and seemed to go to the next most powerful person in the room. Apparently, he would go down the line until he thought a suggestion was too below the Fire Lord’s station. “Chief Arnook, you have a daughter, correct?” Zaiu asked hopefully.

“Yes. Yue. We are very proud of her,” Arnook told the table fondly, glancing at Sokka with gentle eyes. Sokka smiled back at him.

“She’s a princess, yes?” When Arnook nodded, Zaiu continued, “A daughter who is of marrying age?”

“I suppose.”

“…So. Why did you not volunteer her for this great position?” Zaiu demanded hotly. Sokka saw red for a moment, any mention of Yue could bring that ire out of him – but Arnook seemed to beat him to it.

“I’m afraid my daughter is unable to wed the Fire Lord, Sage Zaiu.”

“And why, pray tell, is that?”

“She is the moon spirit.”

Everyone at the table seemed to simmer, as if to digest his words.

“Is that a figure of speech?”

“No. During Admiral Zhao’s siege on the North Pole, he killed the moon spirit.” Sokka shivered. Hakoda squeezed his hand briefly on top of the table, before letting go. “My daughter had been blessed by the moon spirit as a newborn. She had the moon spirit within her, and to restore balance, she took Tui’s place in the sky.”

“Is this a joke to you?” Zaiu snapped.

Arnook raised an eyebrow at the man. “You believe Agni chose your royal family because they have dragon blood in their veins, but you draw the line at moon spirits?”

Zaiu looked ready to shout, but Zuko stood, slamming an open palm on the table. “Enough! No more talk of Princess Yue. I was _there_ , if you will recall, and I won’t allow you to disgrace her memory with doubts.” Zuko’s eyes flickered to Sokka briefly, before returning to the sage beside him. “Zaiu, you will show the Chief respect, or you will be asked to give control of this meeting to the other sages.”

Zaiu frowned but turned back toward Arnook. He bowed. “I apologize for my disrespect, Chief.”

Arnook simply nodded at him.

“Are there any other members of your society that would be high enough up to marry the Fire Lord? Any other children?” Zaiu asked.

“No, just our Yue. My sister has a son, but he’s ten. He’s assured to take the post when I step down, but for now, there’s no one with a claim.”

“Chief Hakoda,” Zaiu began. He was getting desperate. (Sokka thought it was hilarious.) “You have a daughter, correct?”

“I do, yes,” Hakoda told him simply, messing with a ring on his finger while not looking away from the sage.

“She is seventeen, yes?”

“Nearly; she will be this winter.”

“And she is unmarried?”

“Yes.”

“Will she marry the Fire Lord?”

“No.”

“ _What_?! Why not?” Zaiu shouted. “There can’t be two moon spirits, don’t try and convince me there are!”

Hakoda smirked slightly, but schooled his face enough to hide the amusement he was finding in the man’s predicament. “She is unmarried, yes, she is of age, yes, but she is otherwise previously entangled.”

“How so?”

“She has found her soulmate in the Avatar.”

Zaiu’s face dropped. “Are you sure? Is it... and she would not consider our offer?” It was clear he didn’t want to enrage the Avatar, but Sokka and Zuko both knew it was not Aang’s anger they had to worry about. Hakoda knew it, too.

“You can certainly try, but my daughter would destroy you before Aang even knew you’d tried to proposition her. It’s not him you should fear, Zaiu,” Hakoda told him smugly.

Sokka grinned. His sister had always been a force to be reckoned with, but he couldn’t imagine what damage she would do to someone if they tried to force her into an arranged marriage. (He would certainly pay money to see Zaiu try.)

Although Katara had the ability to control all the elements due to her soulmate, she wasn’t the Avatar, and couldn’t go into the Avatar state, let alone the fact that she would more than likely never master all four elements; it didn’t make her any less dangerous though. All across the world, people had heard how she’d defeated Azula then saved the Fire Lord in a matter of moments during Sozin’s Comet. And she had only used her native element then.

It didn’t seem like any of them wanted to know what she could do if she was angered enough to unleash her full power onto them.

At the end of the table, Zuko had his face resting against his hand, the sleeve of his robe covering the bottom half of his face. Sokka could tell by the crinkles by his eyes that Zuko was laughing quietly at the idea of someone trying to force Katara to do... well, anything, really.

“Well,” Bato spoke up for the first time. “There’s Sokka.”

Sokka smirked and Zaiu’s eyes turned harshly to him. He knew Zaiu didn’t like him. It was endlessly funny – and easy – to torment the man, which he did often.

Zaiu ignored Sokka and looked back at Hakoda. “There’s no one else with political power in your tribe? No nieces? King Keui, any for you?” Sokka wanted to laugh, but he did feel slightly insulted. King Keui and Hakoda both shook their heads.

“The Chief is an elected position in our tribe, it won’t be passed down to Sokka or Katara, unless they choose to run for office when I retire,” Hakoda said simply. “They do have some political power as my children though, and have influence over lawmaking down South. Not to mention their friendship with Aang. All things considered, Sokka would probably be your best choice.”

“Wait, what?” Sokka asked. He hadn’t thought his father and Bato were _serious_. He thought they were all in on the joke to make Zaiu mad, but they were actually thinking about it?

His father gave him a gleeful look, and Sokka could see it in his eyes: he knew. Perhaps he didn’t know that they were soulmates, but he definitely knew Sokka had feelings for Zuko. Great, now his father was playing wingman on a sociopolitical scale.

He supposed it wouldn’t be too bad, though. Zuko _was_ his soulmate, whether Zuko knew it or not.

Zaiu’s lip twitched in dissent. “But he’s a man – the issue of an heir still remains.”

Ah yes, some good old simmering homophobia. Sozin’s law may have been repealed, allowing gay marriage across the Fire Nation and the colonies, but it was only last year that it was officially accepted into law, and a lot of the older people in Zuko’s court didn’t like how hard he had pushed for it. This ought to be good.

“If you believe that Agni chose the royal family, would you not agree that if a female friend carried the child to continue the lineage, does it matter if the child was biologically both of theirs?” Hakoda asked coolly.

Oh, point to dad, that’s a really good one, bring in their great spirit. But Hakoda wasn’t done yet.

“Or even if they chose to adopt a child, are you saying the one they choose would not be predestined by Agni? There are certainly enough orphans after this war, I’m certain the spirits have plans for them all.”

Bringing up the orphans from the war their ancestors let happen. That’s the final blow. Sokka can tell by the look on Zaiu’s face. The other sages were whispering to each other, seemingly in agreement.

Zaiu looked back at them. When they nodded, he sighed heavily. “I suppose he is the best option.” He looked towards Zuko. “Do you have any objections, Lord Zuko?” His voice sounded like he _really_ wanted Zuko to have objections.

Zuko looked at Sokka. Sokka gave a nod of agreement. Zuko smiled softly, before turning back to Zaiu. “I have no objections.”

Zaiu groaned softly before saying, “Thank you all for your time. May Agni bless you.” As the other dignitaries stood and bowed to Zuko on their way out, Zaiu grumbled to Hakoda, “I’ll draw up the contract immediately.”

When Zaiu swept out of the room, Hakoda let out a body-shaking laugh. “What did you do to that man? He doesn’t seem to like you much.”

“What makes you think I did something?” Sokka gasped dramatically. “I would never.”

“Liar,” Zuko scoffed as he walked over to them. Hakoda excused himself to go follow Bato from the room, and it clanged shut, leaving just Zuko and Sokka. “Listen,” Zuko started. “I can’t... I can’t thank you enough. For being willing to do this with me – _for_ me. I know I’m probably not who you ever pictured yourself marrying.”

Maybe not pictured, but he had certainly hoped.

“It’ll be great, Zuko,” Sokka told him fondly. “You have a duty to your country, but you’re allowed to listen to your own feelings, too, you know. So if you find someone else...” he swallowed the lump in his throat. “I won’t stand in your way.”

Zuko looked genuinely upset at the notion. “What? I don’t... I won’t find anyone else. I don’t think so.” Zuko blushed when the realized what he’d said.

Sokka held his arm gently, and Zuko smiled at him at the motion. “This won’t change anything if you don’t want it to,” Sokka said firmly.

Sokka secretly really, truly hoped it would change things. If it did, then he would tell Zuko that they’re soulmates. He can do that...

Maybe.


	2. Maybe I Could Tell You the Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Begins from right after the wedding, until four years later.  
> Four years after Sokka and Zuko were married, they've had quite a life. They admitted they liked each other, they have a child, they're ruling a country together. But Zuko still doesn't know that Sokka is his soulmate.  
> Maybe he should have figured it out sooner. Nothing gold can stay.

Sokka and Zuko spent a lot of time together the months leading up to the wedding, and Sokka had thought, maybe, Zuko had a crush on him. But he didn’t want to bring it up. Zuko was flighty by nature and Sokka was always worried about scaring him off if he came on too strong. (Which Suki told him he tended to do. Katara agreed. So had Aang and Toph. Apparently, it’s a well-known fact he acts passionately without thinking, and it got him into trouble. He just found it rude they had been talking about him behind his back enough to agree on this.)

So Sokka had kept it to himself for a while. Then, a few months after their wedding, they had kissed for the first time. The royal wedding didn’t have one, unlike Water Tribe weddings, as it was mainly Fire Nation tradition. (Sokka would deny it if someone said he was pouting about it all day when he found out though.)

Zuko had been the one to _finally_ spill his guts, as if he had expected Sokka to turn him down – as if Sokka could want anyone else. Zuko had bumbled around it for a while, trying to get the words out, until Sokka had grabbed him by the front of his robes and kissed him.

“You idiot,” Sokka had told him. “I thought you were straight, that’s why I didn’t say anything.”

Zuko had laughed. “I thought that _you_ were straight. Until Suki told me otherwise, at least. She was very persistent about it, you know.”

Sokka had scowled and glared at Zuko’s door to his chambers because he knew Suki was on the other side, and she was probably (definitely) listening to their conversation. He had stormed over and whipped the door open. Suki was smirking, which confirmed his suspicion that she had been listening. “You told him?” Sokka squawked out, affronted. “I told you about that in confidence!”

“Yeah, and I was _confident_ you weren’t going to make a move, one of us had to do something,” Suki had told him with a roll of her eyes.

Sokka wished he could be mad at her about it, but he wasn’t – he never was. Because of Suki’s meddling (something she insisted she rarely did, which was a blatant lie) he and his husband were no longer just friends in a political marriage. It was far, far more than an alliance – at least to them.

But Sokka didn’t tell Zuko they were soulmates. He’d tell him soon, he was sure of it.

-

On their first wedding anniversary, Zuko had pulled him aside at the party, and said that he loved him.

And Sokka had said it back.

And they had snuck out to the balcony to kiss; they had promised to try and keep it under wraps, it was better for the world to keep thinking it was political. It was better for his enemies to think that as well. And Sokka didn’t like it.

But they got to be affectionate with each other plenty, when they were around their friends and family, the guards, the Kyoshi Warriors, even if they snuck into town, they could hold hands.

It was only around advisors and politicians that they had to stay sequestered in their own rooms. Sokka always hated it, he was used to Zuko’s warmth and he felt lonely on the few nights when they couldn’t risk it. Suki would tell him they were doing the right thing, being careful, but Sokka was growing less and less sure of that as time went on.

And Sokka still didn’t tell Zuko they were soulmates.

-

Two years after their marriage, Mai and Ty Lee told them that they were together. They said they were soulmates; they could feel it. And they were happy for them, truly. Although Mai having found her soulmate complicated things, since they had originally planned to ask Mai to have the heir to the throne.

It was around this time when everyone had come to the palace after Katara and Aang’s wedding. Aang had proposed shortly before his eighteenth birthday, explaining that he hadn’t wanted to wait long to ask her. However, Katara had insisted on waiting the few months until after his birthday, no matter how much he had complained that technically he was one hundred and seventeen, not seventeen.

“Getting struck by lightning and almost dying a few times will remind you what’s important,” Aang had said jokingly as he held Katara’s hands in his at the altar. “What’s most important to me is you, Katara. Life is short, and I couldn’t wait any longer. I already waited over a hundred years to find you.”

They had gotten married in the South Pole, a very small wedding after a brief engagement – Aang had decided against making a betrothal necklace for her, since he still was bitter about how Katara was treated as subservient in the North Pole, and he didn’t want to replace her mother’s necklace.

He had instead brought up the idea of an old Air Nomad tradition, where a soulmate from another nation (although _extremely_ rare for Air Nomads) would get an arrow tattoo that matched an airbending master’s along the length of their back. Katara had enthusiastically agreed, and when Katara wore a blue wedding gown that showcased the top half of the blue tattoo leading from the small of her back up to the space between her shoulder blades, it had drawn a few gasps of awe. It was gorgeous, the whole ceremony was.

The reception was held in the Fire Nation palace as neutral ground so diplomats could come, despite Aang not wanting them to, but Katara convinced him they needed to do it out of respect, especially since her brother was the Fire Lord’s husband now.

After the reception, everyone had seen Aang and Katara off to a “special Air Nomad honeymoon destination.” (Sokka was too afraid to ask what exactly that meant, so he kept the question to himself.) When they had vanished from sight on Appa, Zuko and Sokka had asked Mai and Ty Lee into their chambers for a nightcap and to catch up.

It was then that they had asked them if one of them would be willing to have Zuko’s baby.

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Zuko had told them, nervously playing with the ends of his hair that he had been growing out past his shoulders (which Sokka _loved_ , and told him that often). “But the mother of the heir to the throne is always declared Fire Lady, so you’d – you’d get that. And you both can have the title, I don’t care, we can all live in the palace, raise the kid together – I’m sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself, you haven’t even said anything, I don’t want to – ”

“I’ll do it.”

They had all turned to Mai in shock. Sokka and Zuko had both assumed the girls would say no, and Mai might throw a dagger at them in protest, which they wouldn’t fault her for. Ty Lee cheered and hugged Mai.

“We’re having a baby!” Ty Lee cheered. “Oh, this is so great! Two mommies and two daddies, what a life they’ll have. Oh, oh, should we have more than one?”

Sokka had coughed at the idea. He never pictured himself having a kid before he was twenty-five, let alone with _the Fire Lord_ of all people, but he had come to terms with it. Multiple children before twenty-five though, that was a different conversation all on its own.

Mai had rolled her eyes but smiled fondly. “Let’s try the one baby first. Who knows if it’ll take, I’ve never tried to have a kid before.”

Zuko shrugged. “You’ve never been bad at anything; I doubt motherhood is an exception.”

“I suppose,” Mai had said with a sigh, although she had smirked at the compliment.

Ty Lee clapped excitedly and sat beside Sokka, chattering, “So what would the baby’s name be? I know you can’t control this one, but do you want a boy or a girl? Oh, oh! Where would the nursery be? Do you guys have a nursery in the palace already?”

Zuko would normally have gotten frustrated at all the questions, but he had simply smiled. “There is a nursery, but it’s on the other side of the palace. It was more common that a wet-nurse take care of the baby the majority of the time, but I want a new nursery set up, close to our chambers. I want to be able to spend a lot time with my kids. My mom used to always come in and check on us, just to say good night. I want to be able to do that easily.”

Sokka grinned, and Zuko squeezed his hand affectionately.

“If I’m having the kid, too, I don’t want to just – have it,” Mai had said. “I want to be involved. That’s my condition, that Ty Lee and I get to raise the baby as well.”

Everyone had nodded emphatically. “Of course,” Zuko had told her without hesitation. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

She had smirked again. “It’ll be just like old times, sneaking around the castle for a secret rendezvous – although I guess we won’t have to dodge the guards and your family like we used to.”

“You guys weren’t as subtle as you were trying to be, you know,” Ty Lee giggled. “We all knew.”

“Aw, young Mai and Zuko sneaking off to have sex – when was this?” Sokka teased.

“We were teenagers, it’s not important,” Zuko had said quickly.

“I hope he’s improved at least. He was young and inexperienced when we got together,” Mai said, ignoring Zuko.

“We were _both_ young and inexperienced,” Zuko defended. “Besides, I think I’m – I’m okay, right?” Zuko had turned to Sokka with wide eyes, as if the idea of Sokka telling him that he wasn’t okay would ruin his self-image. Which, it probably would, given how fragile the years of neglect and abuse from his family had made him.

“You’re _very_ good in bed, babe, I promise,” Sokka had told him with a pat on the shoulder, before looking at Mai and Ty Lee, half-joking, “He’s a generous lover, he likes to be told what to do, it’s nice.”

Ty Lee cooed out, “Aw,” as Mai said, “So he hasn’t changed at all, that’s good to know.”

Zuko flushed red and hit Sokka on the arm, to which he feigned injury, before Ty Lee had turned to her girlfriend and let out a whiny, “Mai, can I watch at least?”

“For what reason?”

“Because you’re making a baby that will be one quarter mine,” Ty Lee pouted. “And I want to... supervise.”

“Yeah, we should supervise,” Sokka had added with a wink. “It’s only right, you know, just to watch and make sure everything goes smoothly. Maybe give some pointers.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “You have never in your life watched and not wanted to participate in anything. Everyone knows that’s not what you’re after.”

“Stop trying to take all the fun out of creating life, Zuko.”

“Yeah, Zuko,” Ty Lee teased.

“Yeah, Zuko. Stop taking the fun out of it.”

“Even you, Mai?!” Zuko had gasped. They had all laughed, and Zuko had resolved that they’d need to tell the fire sages they’d made a decision on the topic of the baby’s mother. They had been bothering Zuko and Sokka about finding an heir for the last year or so, they’d probably throw a party in celebration at the news.

And even then – Sokka still didn’t tell Zuko they were soulmates.

-

Three years after their marriage, Mai was eight months pregnant, and everyone was doting on her. She hated it, but she had kept the knife-throwing to a minimum whenever someone would take things from her so she didn’t have to do anything. One nurse had nearly had a fit when she had found out Mai still always kept knives in her sleeves. She had panicked and said that one false move could hurt the baby.

“I’ve ever hurt someone on _accident_ with my knives,” Mai had said, her eyes narrowed, clearly insinuating that if the nurse kept it up, Mai’s aim would be true, because it was on purpose.

Katara had been called in to be their midwife months ago – well, perhaps saying she was called in is an oversimplification. Katara had found out Mai was pregnant somehow, shown up, and charged at Sokka in a rage for not telling her sooner, the fact that Mai had only been pregnant for three months and they had only found out a few weeks ago be damned.

After that, she and Aang had been given a room close to the newly built nursery, so that if Mai went into labor in the night, she would be the first to get there. Aang had to leave over the course of the month a couple of times, he had duties to attend to, but Katara was certain she was needed more at the palace.

The following month, Mai went into labor in the middle of the night, just as Katara had predicted. Katara went to work ordering everyone around to get things ready for the arrival. Zuko had nearly fainted, and Mai had roared at him, “ _I’m_ the one giving birth, if you don’t stop being a bitch and do your job, I’m keeping her in!”

Right as the sun rose and the rays began to shine through the window, their daughter was born. A thick head of black hair and golden eyes, and once Katara had placed her in Mai’s arms, she had four parents cooing over her at everything she did. (“She’s so beautiful! She looks just like you!” and “Did you see that? She grabbed my finger! She’s a genius, I’m telling you, do babies usually grab things this early?”)

They had already decided on a name: Izumi. And Izumi was looking around at them quizzically, no longer crying, simply as if she was trying to take it all in. She kept grabbing at Ty Lee’s braid, and Ty Lee let her pull on it lightly and Izumi giggled.

As she got older, she would consistently try to grab at the golden hairpiece on Sokka’s head, and he would take it out and let her play with it, much to the chagrin of the sages who said it was “inappropriate” for a child to be chewing on the crown of a Fire Lord, which Sokka had shrugged at and said, “She’ll get to wear Zuko’s one day, she can play with it if she wants.” The sages had given up, aware they wouldn’t win that fight.

And even on their daughter’s first birthday, right after their fourth wedding anniversary, Sokka still hadn’t told Zuko they were soulmates.

-

To this day, Zuko had never asked if Sokka could firebend. So he didn’t know that they were soulmates. And it had gotten to the point where Sokka felt he can’t tell him anymore, Zuko would just be mad that he kept it to himself for so long.

If Zuko seemed so sure that they weren’t soulmates, that was okay. They loved each other more than anything, and they didn’t need to know they were soulmates to feel that – at least on Sokka’s end.

Now, Ty Lee and Sokka were playing with Izumi by the turtleduck pond out in the garden, Sokka having grifted off a responsibility to Fire Lady Mai so he didn’t have to go to the steel factory with Zuko on official Fire Lord business.

Suki was sitting beside them as well, and she kept having to move her fans out of Izumi’s grasp as the baby kept crawling towards the weapons and trying to touch them. Izumi would huff and keep waddling around her, until Suki placed the fans under her thigh, and Izumi blinked in confusion, looking for the disappeared fans. She stared at Suki like she was a witch, and Sokka laughed loudly at the look on his daughter’s face. Suki looked at him and smiled as Izumi grabbed at her leg. “Come to Auntie Suki,” she cooed as she picked Izumi up and placed her in her lap. She let Izumi play with the layers of armor and robes she wore.

“So,” Suki began, looking at Sokka and Ty Lee. “Have you thought about trying for another again?”

She spoke gently, as she knew it was a sensitive topic. They had already tried for a second child, and it didn’t go well. All four parents were still recovering mentally from the ordeal.

Sokka nodded. “We’ve been talking about it a lot lately, actually.”

“I think it should be me and you this time,” Ty Lee giggled to Sokka as she nudged him from where they sat shoulder to shoulder. “I think we could make a baby as cute as Izumi.”

Sokka stared at their daughter in amazement. He often still had a hard time believing she was real, that they had a daughter, one who was so intelligent and curious and wonderful. “I don’t think that’s possible,” he said reverently.

“Mai and Zuko already got one, it’s our turn. We’ll play fire-earth-water for it!”

Sokka looked at Ty Lee. “You want to decide on the creation of our next child by playing a kids’ game?”

“I think it’d be fun! Let’s play right now, to decide if we bring it up to Mai and Zuko when they get back from the factory. I win, you bring it up tonight, you win, we wait to talk about it,” Ty Lee said, holding out her hands.

Sokka smirked. “Fine, you’re on. But I’m amazing at this.”

“You can’t be amazing at a game of luck, it doesn’t work like that,” Suki scoffed.

Sokka glared slightly. “Don’t take this from me.” He held out his hand as a fist, holding it against the open palm of his other hand. “Okay, on the four count.” Ty Lee nodded, and they said in unison, “Fire, earth, water, FIGHT!”

Ty Lee held her hand into a fist as a rock, obviously assuming that Sokka would choose water and she would win. Instead, Sokka had his hand out in a cupping motion. Ty Lee scrunched her nose up. “What is that?”

“It’s air,” Sokka said smugly. “Air beats everything.”

“No, it doesn’t! That’s cheating!”

“It’s not cheating just because you didn’t know a fourth one existed!”

“It’s not in the game, though, no one includes air, that’s not fair!”

“Yes, it is!”

“No, it’s not!”

“Suki,” they both whined as they turned to their friend.

Suki snickered, Izumi giggling happily with her, wanting in on the joke. “Well, air does beat everything, Aang kind of proved that.”

“HA!” Sokka declared smugly.

“However,” Suki continued. “It isn’t an official element of the game. Fire beats earth, earth beats water, water beats fire. Air isn’t in there, so it isn’t apart of the game. So, I think you lose by default. You chose nothing.”

Ty Lee cheered and Sokka groaned. “Suki, I thought what we had was special! We were going to make you next of kin for the next baby but now I’m reconsidering it,” Sokka mused with a huff.

Suki rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie, next of kin is Katara and Aang, you wouldn’t separate your kids in case something happens – which nothing _ever_ will,” she said firmly. “There’s no way something would happen to all four of you.”

“What if there’s an explosion? Or the New Ozai Society finally gets us all?”

“I simply won’t allow you to die,” Suki told Sokka coolly.

“What do you mean, ‘won’t allow me’?”

“You aren’t allowed to die, Sokka,” Suki said smoothly, as if she’d thought of it before. “It’s my sworn duty as a Kyoshi Warrior to protect the Fire Lord – you’re both Fire Lord technically, therefore, if something were to happen to you, you can assume I’m dead. Because that’s the only way something happened to you.”

“Good to know,” Sokka snarked.

Ty Lee laughed. “I’m a warrior, too, so same goes for me. Except my first duty is to Mai.” She paused. “Actually, my first duty is to Izumi. Mai could handle herself in case of an accident or something, Izumi couldn’t.”

“I think we can all agree our duties are to Izumi first and foremost,” Sokka agreed.

The three nodded. Sokka perked up when he saw Mai and Zuko enter the gardens, being followed by a few guards and one Kyoshi Warrior. They were arguing. That’s never a good sign.

“What’s up?” Ty Lee asked, gesturing for Mai to sit next to her in the grass.

Mai sighed. “My father escaped from prison. They pulled us out of the factory tour to get us back here before he inevitably shows up.”

Suki frowned. “How did Ukano get out? I thought he was at the Boiling Rock?”

“We were trying to have him moved somewhere else. He got sick there, and they didn’t have the medical staff to help him. Apparently, it was all a rouse,” Zuko informed them bitterly.

“Which is why we should’ve let him die in the first place,” Mai growled.

Suki handed her Izumi, and Mai immediately stopped looking so murderous, instead busying herself with the little red bow in her daughter’s hair, retying it gently as the baby babbling out an excited “Mommy!”

“I wasn’t going to kill your father, Mai,” Zuko told her with a scowl. “He may have been their leader, but he was still your family. Your mother and brother would have been devastated.”

Mai merely shrugged at the mention of her family as she continued to play with Izumi’s hair. Michi and Tom-Tom had moved into the palace only within the last few years, soon before Izumi’s birth, after Michi became estranged from her husband upon realizing he had founded the New Ozai Society with Azula. Azula was still a founding member, but she was in the mental institution. As far as Sokka knew, she couldn’t communicate with anyone now that she was locked back up.

“So, how’d he get out then? Your uncle isn’t the warden anymore, there’s no way your mother pulled strings to plot an escape for him,” Suki said.

They all knew Michi was loyal to Zuko, it was the very reason she had taken her son and left her husband in the first place. The fact that Ukano was willing to let their daughter be collateral damage if it meant Zuko was assassinated was not something she was willing to let slide.

There had been a few attempts on Zuko’s life since he took the throne, mostly by Ozai and Azula sympathizers, but none of them had gotten as close as Ukano’s. Ukano had planned to attack the ship Zuko and his family were coming back on to the palace, after finally finding his mother – and a sister he didn’t know he had. It was Mai and Suki who had uncovered it and warned Zuko, but the attack had still happened, and they all had nearly died. It made Sokka shiver just thinking about what a close call it had been.

Zuko seemed to notice, as he reached his hand out to touch Sokka’s. Sokka smiled at him and squeezed it tight.

“My mother obviously didn’t do it,” Mai told everyone firmly, looking around at all of the guards who were pretending not to be listening. “Tom-Tom isn’t even ten, he barely remembers father, and if he did, he has no way to do anything to try and find him.”

“Maybe Azula got him out? We know she still has visitors to the mental ward, maybe she’s been managing to get messages out,” Sokka suggested.

Zuko shook his head. “Only me, mother, and Ty Lee have been to see her in the past few months. All requests to visit Azula have to come through me first.”

“On the books visits, you mean,” Mai added with a cocked eyebrow. “If Azula has someone at the asylum on her side, they can sneak people in for her and they wouldn’t need permission from you.”

Sokka pondered for a moment. Azula likely still had sympathizers, there’s the possibility that one of them had gotten a job at the asylum and smuggled messages in and out for her. He doesn’t like the thought of it, but Azula had done what he thought was impossible a half dozen times since they’d first had an encounter when he was fifteen.

“I’ll have to go have a chat with Azula tomorrow,” Zuko grumbled. He looked at Sokka sadly. “The steel manufacturer owner is here, he insisted on it, and we were rushed out of there so quick, I couldn’t argue. He’s going to want to have dinner with everyone.”

“Which means separate bedrooms, I know,” Sokka said with a sigh.

Zuko gripped Sokka’s hand tight and whispered to him, “We’ll tell everyone someday. I promise. But with the New Ozai Society members still on the run, I don’t want to risk you getting hurt if they know how I really feel about you.”

Sokka comforted him with a smile, but also with a complaint. “I’m a target anyway, I’m still your husband. Political or not, I’m always going to be a target for them.”

“I know,” Zuko mumbled angrily. “Don’t remind me.”

-

That night, when Zuko was still entertaining their “guest” (he used that word loosely, since the man had invited himself), Sokka was getting restless. He opened the door to his rarely slept in individual chambers, and saw Suki. She laughed lightly when she saw his head poke out of the doorway. “I knew you’d need to do something. You always have trouble sleeping alone.”

Sokka scowled. “So are we going to do something or not?”

Suki mused for a moment, a devilish smirk sliding across her red lips. “Remember how we first met? The first time I taught you to fight? It’s certainly been a while since then, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah. It has. I feel like I’ve forgotten how to fight with the fans, I got so used to my sword,” Sokka said fondly as he started putting on his day clothes again so they could walk to the armory. “It must’ve been before Izumi was born that I got to practice with you in gear.”

“Let’s do it tonight then,” Suki said with a smile. “Right now.”

“Sounds perfect. But you have to do my makeup, I can never get the eyes right.”

“Yeah, you really can’t.”

“Hey, now, just because it’s true doesn’t mean you need to be rude about it!”

An hour later, Sokka was in the full Kyoshi Warrior gear, and losing a fight to Suki. It was a pretty even match when they sparred normally, but Sokka didn’t have his sword, he was using fans, a weapon he hadn’t practiced with in nearly two years. After a while of it going back and forth, Suki had finally managed to get him on his back, and she grabbed him in a loose headlock.

“I yield!” Sokka groaned, hitting her arm.

Suki laughed and let him go. “You almost had me beat... _almost_.” She smirked.

Then they heard the siren. They hadn’t heard it in years. A guard ran into the practice room, not bothering with formalities or even a bow. “Suki, I need all of the warriors to come with me, there’s been a break-in, we need to get the royal family to safety. Do you know where Lord Sokka is?”

Sokka frowned. “I’m right here, Zin.”

The guard opened his mouth before bowing quickly. “My mistake, sir. We need to get you to – ”

“Yeah, yeah, safety, sure. What’s the threat level?”

“Unknown,” Zin said as they left the room and rushed down the hall. “We suspect the New Ozai Society, it’s too much of a coincidence that their leader escaped prison last night and now there’s a break-in.”

“What wing is it in?” Sokka asked.

“East wing.”

Sokka’s eyes went wide. “They’re looking for Zuko.” He turned and ran in the opposite direction, heading towards their chambers.

“Sokka, stop!” Suki shouted, hot on his heels.

He couldn’t hear her. He sped up. People had broken into his home. They were near his room, near Zuko’s room. Near _Izumi’s_ room. He needed to get there, immediately.

He felt someone grab him by the wrist, and expected to see Suki, but instead saw an unfamiliar face. The man’s face is hard with a long scar down the whole length of the right side. “Who’s this?” He asked, his grip on Sokka tightened as he looked to a female companion with long dark hair.

“I thought we saw all the Kyoshi Warriors. Except for the other one, but she’s – ”

The man shushed his accomplice. “She’s Suki, of course. The Fire Lord’s personal guard. What a pleasure is it to meet you. I’ll need to ask about where that ex-boyfriend of yours is.” He gave Sokka a smile that made him want to puke. Then he realized –

They were looking for _him_. But why?

He wasn’t planning to wait around to find out. He hit the man with the open blade of the fan right on the wrist, so the man hissed and let go. Sokka aimed the other fan directly into the accomplice’s face, and ran before he saw where it hit. Judging by the scream, he’d made a bullseye.

He ran outside, he could hide under the cover of darkness. He knew the land surrounding the palace more than any would-be kidnapper or thief. He realized he was in one of the less used gardens, the one that was on the outskirts of the palace walls, right before the guard tower. He saw that the guard up there was looking on the other side of the wall, towards intruders trying to get in, not out.

Sokka saw a shadow sneaking towards the man, and was about to shout out to him to look out, when he saw the telltale signs of a Kyoshi Warrior, the armor and fans glinting in the moonlight. He sighed in relief. Good, he could ask her where Zuko and Izumi were –

Then the warrior slashed her fan across the guard’s throat, and he fell, blood pouring from his neck.

Sokka gasped at the sight, falling back. That was not one of their warriors, they would never do something like that. Who was the woman in the Kyoshi Warrior outfit then?

The person’s attention was drawn to the noise. She snarled and climbed down the wall with catlike haste, and Sokka scrambled to his feet. He looked closely at her. She wasn’t a familiar face; even with the face paints on, he would’ve recognized her. He had seen all of the Kyoshi Warriors nearly every day for years, and would know any of them in a second. This person was someone new. But somehow, they knew all of the moves he had seen the warriors use hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

But most shocking about her appearance was the outfit. It was dripping red with blood, certainly not enough for just the one man from up there. His heart stopped beating for a moment. Was any of that blood someone he knew? Someone he _loved_? Was it Zuko’s or – Spirits forbid – even Izumi’s? 

He didn’t have time to ask. She lunged at him, fans first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, we're finally getting into the action! i'm really excited about this story, because zuko and sokka are useless bisexuals who need the women in their lives to force them to do things. what headasses. (but headasses whom i love very dearly.)  
> please give me feedback if you feel so inclined, it motivates me, and i hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> thanks,  
> tay


	3. Maybe We're In More Danger Than We Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka fought the fake Kyoshi Warrior, and ended up entrenched in a far deeper and more nefarious plot than he could've imagined. And now there was another person here, kidnapped in the attempt to blackmail Zuko.  
> Which just made the idea of him getting discovered and killed worse, because it would get her killed too.

When she lunged at him, Sokka had to rely on instincts alone.

First instinct? Find a sword.

Second instinct? Well, he’d figure it out if he lives that long.

Maybe it'll be to get out of the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, so he could fight a little better with his legs freer. But at least the uniform offered him some armor and protection, so perhaps it'd be best to stay in it for now.

The woman dressed like a Kyoshi Warrior is strong and fast, and the blades of her fan are much sharper than Suki’s usually are, and he can tell that when she slashes him on his left forearm. It cut where the armor wasn’t and right through the layers of cloth, and he hissed. She smiled cruelly at him.

Sokka ran. Hopefully, he could get to the armory before she figured out where he was going. He took a few zig-zags, knowing that he was more accustomed to the gardens than his pursuer was; she was following him, but if he could just lose her for a moment, enough to get to his sword, he’d be okay. It’d be more of a fair fight, at least. He was one fan down, and hers were definitely _not_ regulation.

Now he was just left to wonder how she had gotten the uniform and fans. If they weren’t standard issue, how did she get them? A convincing copy? The outfit looked exactly like the originals, so that couldn’t be it. He can only hope that she hadn’t killed one of their warriors and taken her uniform. He knew all of them, most of them he’d known since he first met them on Kyoshi Island when he was fifteen. He would be devastated.

He tried to push the thoughts from his mind. Focus _. Focus on getting away. Once you beat her, you can find Zuko and Izumi_ , he told himself.

Focus.

He didn’t have much time to focus. He turned a corner, aiming to hide behind the building until he could figure out the best way to get to the armory, when a dagger hit the wall right beside his face. His eyes widened when he saw her jump down again. She had been following him from the rooftops, no wonder he couldn’t shake her.

She landed with a roll, and was up and at his throat in an instant. The open blade of the fan cut into the air right where his neck had been.

He took a deep breath. Relax. Be resourceful. Remember Master Piandao’s lessons.

It was this idea that prompted him to look down at his feet. She took that opportunity to lunge at him, and she tackled him to the ground. He was able to hold her fans back from his face, and she snarled at him. It was hard to keep her at bay. She was incredibly muscular. She was nearly his size, nearly as tall as him; if she had broader shoulders, they probably would’ve been a pretty even match. He went back to what he was planning on doing in the first place.

He needed to do this carefully, or she’d kill him in his moment of desperation.

In a single instant, he let go of one of her hands, the blade coming right towards his head. He moved the upper half of his body out of the way as the blade dug into the earth right beside his ear, and with his free hand, grabbed a handful of dirt beside him and shoved it into her eyes.

She shouted, and her hands went to her face. It gave him the time he needed to push her off him and run, hopefully she still was blinded enough in that moment that she didn’t see which direction he was going. Was it the classiest move? No, but if his choices were fight dirty or die, he’d choose to fight dirty every time.

He heaved deep breaths as he approached the armory. _Finally._

He ran in, and immediately started looking for his sword. The same sword he had fought with in Ozai’s comet, the one he had made himself, the one that Zuko had spent a year finding and recovering for him. He had recruited a waterbender to search the waters around where it had fallen, and they’d found it. Zuko had returned it to him, newly devoid of the rust it had collected under it’s time underwater, as a gift for their first _real_ anniversary; not of the arranged marriage, but the anniversary of when they first kissed.

He paused as he continued his search. Zuko had given him so much. Zuko loved him so much. And how did he repay him? By keeping secrets.

_I’ll tell him tomorrow. If I survive this, I’m telling him tomorrow,_ Sokka thought determinedly. He wasn’t going to let this be a secret that died with him. He refused. Zuko deserved to know. He always had.

Maybe he’d just been a coward – no, he had _definitely_ just been a coward. And it could leave Zuko with Sokka dead, with no soulmate. Something was always going to be happening to them, something would always put them at risk, it had been that way for nearly eight years. Life was too fragile and easily lost to not tell Zuko. To hell if Zuko would be mad at him for keeping it to himself. At least he’d know.

Sokka sighed a breath of relief when he saw the black meteorite sword glisten when the moonlight hit it. He looked out the window. A full moon.

It was a sign. Yue was with him. She would help him win this fight. She always did.

He carefully picked up the already unsheathed blade, and stopped. He heard the faintest noise behind him. If he hadn’t been so finely attuned to listening to soft sounds so that he could always hear Izumi when she woke up, he would never have noticed the quiet, almost discernable sound of a footstep.

She was here.

He couldn’t see her, but he could feel by the bristling of the hair on the back of his neck that she was inching closer.

Stay calm. Don’t let her know you know. What was it Zuko used to say when the sparred?

“Don’t let your enemy know your skill,” Zuko had told him one day, so many years ago, just after the war when they had decided to spar in the courtyard. “Give yourself the advantage.”

_Give yourself the advantage._ Right.

His biggest advantage at the moment? The girl didn’t know he could firebend. No one did. Use it. He could almost hear Suki and Zuko both telling him that he underestimates himself; he could do anything with enough grit, they said.

Sokka continued as normal, moving the sword with no difference in speed, holding it in front of his abdomen.

He turned quickly, keeping his hands level. She stepped back quickly, the hand holding the fan nearly hitting his ear in her haste to get away from him. She glared, and hit one of his hands with the fan. He saw the blood curdling on his wrist, and he let go of the sword with that hand. She hit the edge of the sword with her fan, using the distraction his blood caused to knock the sword out of his hand.

She smirked wickedly, and aimed the other fan forward –

Everything moved in slow motion.

_Give yourself the advantage_.

He lit one hand ablaze, and whirled forward, grabbing onto her throat. When his burning hand touched her, she screamed. At the sound, Sokka let go, his cerulean eyes wide. He had never burnt someone before. He didn’t – he couldn’t –

“You,” she croaked out, touching the raw skin where his hand had touched. “You’re Water Tribe. It’s not – they said it was political!”

“Maybe it wasn’t as political as they thought,” Sokka said evenly, picking up his sword and pointing it at her as she gasped on the floor. “Who are you? How did you get this uniform?”

She laughed. “You don’t recognize me? Typical.”

He didn’t recognize her. How was he supposed to? He had seen the other Kyoshi Warriors in and out of the face paints and outfit, but he had no idea who this woman was. His silence just seemed to enrage her.

“You’re the reason my soulmate is dead,” she hissed. “You brought the Avatar to Kyoshi Island, and then your precious Fire Lord burnt it down. He set our homes ablaze. My fiancé didn’t make it out.” Her voice choked up slightly. “Now the Fire Lord will know what it feels like to lose _his_ soulmate.”

She aimed both fans up, going for his throat. He acted on instinct again. He spun on her, keeping the sword flat.

Her eyes went wide. She dropped the fans. She looked down –

At the sword that went through one side of her stomach and was now poking out of the other. He had bypassed her armor completely.

Her breath hitched as she looked at him with watery eyes. Sokka felt like he could cry. He didn’t know why, she tried to kill him first. But he’d never killed someone like this before. During the war, it was ships going down in icy waters, firebenders falling off blimps, he had never killed someone hand to hand like this.

This – this was different. He killed her. She wanted revenge on Zuko, and he killed her. He told himself he had no choice. He had no choice. He had no choice...

She fell forward, and he caught her. Sokka laid her down. Blood was pooling at both sides of her middle, and some was trickling from the corner of her mouth. When he let go of her as she rested on the floor, she snatched his hand desperately, as if she was trying to keep herself from floating away. He didn’t pull away. He looked into her eyes and saw a deeply sad person who had lost her soulmate.

And it was their fault.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I am.”

She looked at him with something between anger and peace. She closed her eyes.

He stayed there for a moment, staring at her. The face paints had smudged. Her hair was brown and short, like Suki’s – or like his. Her uniform was covered in blood, there’s no way it would ever come out. Her blood likely wouldn’t fully wash away from the armory floor either. It would stain.

_He had no choice._

He didn’t know her name. Maybe Suki would.

He took a steadying breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little golden headpiece. Zuko always made him carry it with him; always said if he got in trouble with the law outside of the palace, if no one recognized him, flashing it would help. It was one of the most well known pieces of headwear in the Fire Nation; it had belonged to Zuko’s mother, and his grandmother before her. It held prominence.

He held it tight in his hand. He needed to find Zuko and Izumi. That was his top priority still. With blood covered hands, he placed the crown back into his pocket. He took a step toward her body, and after an uneasy stare and then looking away from her – he ripped the sword out.

He sighed, and absentmindedly wiped some of the blood off the blade onto the uniform. He left the armory.

“Kyamo?” he heard a voice call.

He turned to see the woman from earlier, but the man with the scar was no longer with her. Sokka gripped the sword but didn’t raise it. Maybe he could get away without having to draw more blood.

The woman looked at him, and gestured for him to approach her. He did so, and she looked him up and down. “Nice to finally meet you,” she said. “Figured you went in with the second group, none of us saw you until we got past the walls, you know.”

_Oh_. She thought he was this Kyamo; assumedly, that’s who he just left lying in the armory. He supposed it wasn’t that far-fetched, especially if they didn’t know her well. They had the same build and hair. If you ignore the eyes, and the fact that he was a man, he could pass for her.

“Did you do it?” At the blank look on his face, she huffed and continued, “Did you kill him?”

He held the sword out towards her limply. Her brown eyes widened as she touched it to look closer. Sokka had to force himself not to snatch it back from her grasp. “Wait – _no_ ,” she said in awe. “Is that...? You managed to kill him with his own sword? Cold-blooded.” She smiled wickedly at the idea. Sokka suppressed a shiver at the fiery look in her eyes.

“What’d you do with the body?”

His heart stopped beating for a moment as he tried to think of something. Wait, there’s a lake just beside the armory.

“Dumped it,” he said simply, altering his voice just slightly. He hadn’t spoken to her when they had run into each other in the corridor, hopefully they hadn’t heard this Kyamo speak either.

“Where’d you dump it?”

“Lake. By the armory.”

“You idiot!” The woman hissed. “We wanted to take the body! Did no one tell you? We need to provide proof that he's dead!”

Fuck. Shit. Tui and La, she was angry. She was going to figure out he wasn’t Kyamo. Unless he could prove that Sokka – that _he –_ was actually dead.

He reached into his pocket, and handed her the bloody crown. She gasped slightly. “Will this work instead?” he asked, his voice cool although his entire body felt like it was on fire, like he could explode.

She looked at him with a devilish smirk. “This is even better. Our sources say he never leaves it behind. It’ll be just as recognizable.”

A source? So they did have someone on the inside. Who was it? He hoped he would figure it out soon, so he could tell someone.

“We’ve got to get out of here now. Where’d you kill him?”

“The... the armory.” He was hesitant to say it. What if she wanted to check out the scene herself? She’d probably realize that the body laying on the ground wasn’t him.

“Good. Go back, put the crown in there. Sword, too. They’ll know what happened. We can’t risk going back into the palace to put it somewhere more obvious.” She pouted, as if that had been the part she’d wanted to do most.

“Yeah. Yep, I can do that. You... you go ahead, I’ll be right back.” Sokka rushed to the armory. The woman was keeping him in her sights until he closed the door to the armory behind him.

He put the crown down, dropping his sword as well. He desperately didn’t want to leave his things behind, but there was no time. He looked down at the body. He could hear footsteps. Was she coming to check on him?

There was only one thing he could do.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, as he lit his hands on fire again, carefully to keep the flames completely out of sight. He touched the body.

He remembered what Zuko had told him years ago, right after they were married. He had said that firebenders were naturally very resistant to flames. _You have to hold a body a long time to burn flesh_ , he had said, gesturing to his own scar. _You have to hold it for a long time, or your flames have to be really hot._

He hoped her body would burn much faster than a firebender’s. He needed her to be ash before the woman reached the door. Or he was dead.

Apparently, his fear was fueling the flames, because her body had quickly become unrecognizable. No distinguishable features, nearly stripped of muscle, too. He didn’t have time to try and turn bones to ash, he could hear the footsteps nearing closer. It would have to do.

After carefully situating the bloody hairpiece, he stood to his feet and rushed out, slamming the door behind him, the woman only a few steps away. She cocked an eyebrow. “What were you doing in there so long?”

“I... I wrote a message in the blood.” He was crediting years of lying about his own feelings for Zuko to his sudden ability to lie now.

She whistled. “Devious. What’d you write?” She took a step forward, like she wanted to check on it.

Sokka sidestepped her. “It’s my fiancé’s name. So he would know why I killed his husband.”

She stepped back, nodding in understanding. “Of course. I know you told Zursun in your letter why you wanted to join us. Why you wanted to be the one to kill him. I would be the same way if someone killed my soulmate. I’m surprised you didn’t do more than kill him and get rid of the body.”

“Yes. Well. Suppose I’ve got good self-control,” Sokka responded.

The woman turned and gestured for him to follow her. “Come on, we’re meeting up with everyone. They must already be outside.”

“So what about the Fire Lord?” he dared to question. _Please be okay, please be okay..._

“Gone. Along with the princess,” she said dismissively. “But no matter, we did what we came to do, and more. The letter has been left, and we need to get out before the actual Kyoshi Warriors chase after us.”

“Right. Yeah.” Suki would kill him. If Suki didn’t recognize him – if Suki was told he was dead, she wouldn’t assume he would still be wearing the uniform, and she would kill him. So would Ty Lee. So would Mai.

So would Zuko.

If they’d already made it clear that Sokka was dead, he couldn’t show up dressed as the person who killed – well, _him_.

He sped up. They rushed out of the palace walls, the siren still wailing, the lanterns blazing high. Outside the walls were a half dozen other people, and they all rushed to the docks, where a large steel ship was. Sokka could only assume they had stolen it. They all boarded, and Sokka couldn’t – he couldn’t leave. Not when he was so close to figuring out who was in charge here, or who the informant inside the palace was.

As the ship steamed off hastily, Sokka looked around the deck. Once they had passed the gates of Azulon and were out on the open sea, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. They were out of harm’s way – Sokka, however, was not. He is in far more danger now. There’s no escape for him out here.

A dozen more people greet the original group on the deck, but none of the faces are familiar to him. Until his eyes widen when he spotted a particular figure standing in front of them, wrists bound and looking like she was trying to think of an escape plan.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” the man standing beside her snickered when he noticed Sokka’s eyes on her. “Apparently, she’s the soulmate of the Fire Lord’s breeding bitch.”

Ty Lee’s leg came up and her foot caught the man under the jaw, making his head whip back as he landed hard on the steel floor of the boat.

“Don’t you _dare_ call her that! Don’t you dare even speak of her!” Ty Lee roared and looked as though she wasn’t done, but another man caught her chained wrists – the man with the long, thin scar down his face, the same man that he had first met earlier.

“Shut up,” he told her coldly as he pushed her forward to land on her knees. The look in his eyes when he stared Ty Lee down made Sokka shudder. Ty Lee looked unafraid though.

“She must’ve been a distraction,” the man with the scar said. “The Fire Lord and the princess were gone by the time we got there. She was the only one left.” He looked down at her smugly. “They left you to die, and yet you refused to give up their location. They don’t care about you, don’t you get it?”

Ty Lee remained unwavering. Sokka knew that whatever plan they had come up with, it likely was barely a plan at all; it was a last resort. If it came down to Izumi escaping, or Ty Lee getting killed – well, he knew what Ty Lee would have chosen. It’s what any of them would have chosen if they were in that situation. In a heartbeat.

“Kyamo did her job well,” the woman beside him said. “The Water Tribe savage is dead. She got rid of the body already.” She glared at Sokka slightly, as though to communicate to their leader that it wasn’t her fault.

The man looked him up and down. Sokka was sweating; this man had gotten a good look at him in the halls of the East Wing, he could only hope that the blood and make-up on his face covered what little recognizable bits he could’ve noticed when they’d first seen each other. The man seemed to believe him to be Kyamo, as he asked, “Why would you do that?”

“Fire Nation funeral. You burn the body. Can’t do that if the body is at the bottom of a lake,” Sokka said stiffly. Devoid of emotion. It was easier to talk about his own dead body if he pretended it wasn’t even his – although, he supposed, it wasn’t.

He had to stay focused on the most pressing matter at hand. There were people trying to kill his family; they thought they had succeeded in killing him. He would let them continue to think that.

Right now, his focus had to remain on Ty Lee. Zuko and Izumi were safe. Mai must be with them, Suki probably was too. Ty Lee was the one most in danger right now, even more than himself. They thought he was on their side; they knew that Ty Lee wasn’t.

“Very clever,” the man praised with a small upturned grin. “Steal even the ability to have a proper funeral, well done.”

Ty Lee’s bottom lip quivered. “He’s not – he’s _not_ dead.”

“He _is_ ,” the woman sneered. “And your all-powerful Fire Lord could do nothing to save him – ”

“Syza, hold your tongue!” the man ordered her. She immediately complied.

Sokka remembered the name Syza had said earlier. This man with the scar was obviously the leader, if the authoritarian way he bossed his own people around were anything to go by. “You... you’re Zursun, I assume?”

The man nodded. “Nice to see you, finally. I wasn’t sure if you were good for your word when you said you’d meet us only when you were needed. Noticed that you killed a few extra on your way to find him as well. You weren’t exaggerating when you said you’re one of the best.”

“I am,” Sokka answered. Play along, hopefully they won’t pick up on any glaring differences between him and whatever Kyamo had told them in her letters.

Ty Lee looked down and sobbed softly. Sokka leaned forward to take a step closer to her, but stopped himself just as quick. He couldn’t comfort her. He couldn’t, not unless he wanted to blow his cover.

Sokka forced himself to take a deep breath. “So what? You’re going to kill the girl to get back at the Fire Lord again? Hardly seems fair to kill some... some irrelevant palace whore.” He’d have to apologize later. If – _when_ they lived through this.

Zursun shrugged. “If it comes to it, yes. But we’re hoping a trade will serve our purpose well. The Fire Lord is bound to give himself up in exchange for her life.”

“So, that’s the endgame?” Sokka asked, keeping his voice even although his fists were shaking. He had to steady himself by looking at Ty Lee again. “Get the Fire Lord to give himself up for her? How do you know it’ll work? She isn’t even that close to the Fire Lord, I bet.”

Zursun looked smug when he said, “They’re closer than you might think. My informant tells me that she and the Fire Lord are _quite_ close. You could say she holds something very special to the Fire Lord.”

Sokka simply stared at Zursun, waiting for him to continue. He genuinely had no idea what they were talking about.

Zursun gestured towards a man behind him, one with dark skin and blue eyes. Why was someone from the Water Tribe mixed up with something like this? Sokka tamped down his anger. “Kota here is a healer. He could spot it the second she walked in. She’s pregnant, assumedly by the Fire Lord.”

Sokka felt ice cold. He tried to think back. Ty Lee had been so persistent that they should have another child when they discussed it with Suki earlier that afternoon. She must have known, that’s why she was so set on talking to Zuko and Mai about it that night – but then Mai’s father had escaped prison, and now – now it was too late. Ty Lee was kidnapped, and they thought Sokka was dead.

He tried to remember when the last time Ty Lee had been with a man, she always said she was Mai’s alone, but sometimes they shared, and it was only with Zuko and Sokka, when they were bored (in Mai’s words) or for “private parents only time” (in Ty Lee’s words). It was his birthday a couple of months back, Ty Lee and Mai had surprised him, a whole night for the four of them, but Zuko hadn’t – he would have remembered if Zuko had been with Ty Lee that night, watching was half the fun, he would _remember._ He knows what _he_ did that night though.

Ty Lee wasn’t carrying Zuko’s baby.

It was his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> am i evil for this chapter? for leaving it how i left it? perhaps.  
> but this was the best place to end it. ps, i have extended the chapter count from four to six, i expanded the plot because i have no self control.  
> next chapter is zuko and mai finding out some things that they really wish they hadn't, so get ready for the angst. some hurt/comfort. all the good (bad) stuff.


	4. Maybe I Thought We'd Have Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka finally gets the chance to talk to Ty Lee on the ship.  
> Meanwhile, Zuko found out what happened. He's never wanted to be a killer, all of his reign, he's wanted to be as far away from that as possible, as far away from his father's legacy as he can.  
> But that's what he's about to become.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: obviously lots of talk of death and violence, that's a theme throughout, but this chapter also includes mentions of a miscarriage during Sokka's section.  
> -  
> sorry for the week or so without updating, but i hope this chapter was worth the wait at least! hella angst, but that's common in every zuko fic.  
> i think that's all i have to say, i just like to be cautious and list trigger warnings, i know this is a topic that can be painful for many, so i wanted to cover my bases.  
> as always, thank you so much for reading, and if you feel so inclined, i'd love to hear your thoughts!  
> thanks,  
> tay

“What do you mean _gone_?” Mai screamed so loudly and full of agony that it could’ve shaken the whole palace. “Where is she?!”

The second Suki had gotten to the bunker, the guards and other Kyoshi Warriors still fighting up in the palace, she had noticed that Ty Lee and Sokka were nowhere to be found.

Suki took Mai’s anger in stride, although Suki was clearly stressed herself. “I don’t know. Cita said that Ty Lee was trying to get out with Izumi, but had to cause a distraction and – ” Suki paused when Mai’s eyes welled up with tears.

Zuko could think of the number of times either he or Suki had seen Mai cry on one hand: _one_. During childbirth. Now two. This wasn’t something he had wanted to ever see again.

Suki continues softly, “Ty Lee told Cita that she stood a better chance getting away from them, so she gave her Izumi and ran. That’s the only reason Izumi got to the hideout.”

Zuko had his face buried in his hands in the bunker. They were deep underneath the palace, only accessible through the tunnels, of which only a select few knew about. He stared at Izumi, asleep in her cradle, blissfully unaware of the fact that she was two parents short in what was supposed to be their safe place. “And Sokka?” he asked hesitantly.

“He was ahead of me, going to the East Wing. I thought he’d come down here when he realized you weren’t there, I tried to tell him, but he got away from me.” Suki took a shuddery breath. “This is my fault. I’m going back up there, I need to find them.”

Zuko was shaking. He and Mai had heard the alarms and people shouting during their meeting with the factory owner from last night, and they’d been swept off to the catacombs, no matter how much they tried to fight back – they were still their guards, neither of them actually wanted to harm some of their own, and they had been promised that Izumi was already in the bunker. True to their word, they had seen Cita, Suki’s second hand, holding Izumi in the bunker. When Suki came down, Zuko had assumed she’d bring Sokka. But he wasn’t here, and Ty Lee wasn’t here, so _where were they_?

Zuko stood. “My home is under siege. I’m going back up there.”

Suki stepped in front of the door, her eyes flashing. “No, you aren’t. Until I find Sokka and Ty Lee, you both are staying here. With Izumi.”

Zuko knew that she was only bringing Izumi up because his daughter was currently the only thing keeping him from rushing back to the fight like he had done countless times as a teenager, all flaming fists and no consequences. But there _were_ consequences. He had a nation to look out for, a daughter who depended on him. He couldn’t just run off like that anymore. Not without calculating the risks – but that’s what Sokka was best at, and Sokka wasn’t here.

Suki took a deep breath when four knocks of a fan on the steel door rang out. She looked through the eye slit and opened the door. Three of her Kyoshi Warriors walked in. She touched Zuko’s shoulder quickly, a gesture of solidarity, and went to the door, stopping briefly. “I’ll find them. We’ll be back soon.”

-

Sokka looked out at the vast seas surrounding them. They were in the middle of the ocean, it looked like, he couldn’t see a speck of land, even with the sun beginning to rise. They’d set him up in the barracks with the women of the group, and he couldn’t sleep there. He couldn’t even take off the warrior make-up, or they’d recognize him, he was certain of it.

So now he just watched as they went further out in the waters, growing more and more aware that he was constantly in danger of being discovered. Nearly everyone else had gone to sleep, except for a helmsman who steered the boat. He walked normally, as if he was heading back to the barracks, walking down the hall. He took a left and went down some stairs.

He approached where Ty Lee was locked up. Apparently, these people didn’t see her as the threat she truly was, because the chains that held her wrists were off, and now only her ankles were chained to the wall behind her with plenty of room to move around the space. She was sitting on the cot in the cell, the steel bars surrounding her.

“Hey – ” Sokka began as he touched the bars, speaking with his normal voice for the first time since he began posing as Kyamo.

Before he could even get another word out, Ty Lee roared, “ _You_!” She leapt at him, grabbing the front of the warrior robes, and pulled his front flush against the steel. “You did this,” she let out in an agonized voice. “You killed him. How _dare_ you come down here and think I won’t – ”

“Ow, Ty Lee, shit, that hurts!”

She loosened her grip on him slightly. “Sokka?” Her voice dared to sound hopeful.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he whispered. “Look I’m sorry for what I said back there, but I don’t – I had to pretend to be the girl they sent to kill me, or they actually would’ve finished the job.”

Ty Lee let go of the robes and clutched his hands through the bars, and she started crying. “You – you c-can’t – I thought you were really gone,” she whimpered.

He squeezed her hands in both of his, before looking around to make sure no one was coming. “I know, I know,” he soothed, rubbing his thumbs along her the backs of her hands. As her sobs died down into sniffles, he finally asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Ty Lee let go of one of his hands to wipe at the tears on her face. “I only found out last week. I would’ve never – I hadn’t even planned on going to a healer, we didn’t expect it to happen, especially after what happened last time. But when Katara came by the palace last week she knew immediately.”

Sokka couldn’t help but feel slightly betrayed by his sister for not telling him. He had even given her a gift during that visit! Well, that might be a stretch, it was a baby shower gift for her and Aang’s first child, due in a few months, but _still_. Although he should have known his sister wouldn’t betray Ty Lee’s trust, probably something about pregnant women solidarity.

Now he’s feeling half-tempted to keep the spa gift he had been saving for when the baby was born... okay, that’s a lie. He wouldn’t do that; it was still a gift for Aang and Katara once the baby was born. They’d need that trip to the springs to try and relax. When they were raising Izumi, they had four people to split the workload, Aang and Katara had just each other. It was weird to think about, almost. How did his dad do it after their mother had passed? He can’t imagine raising kids alone, not when he’s used to three others.

He shakes his head. He can’t think like that right now. If he and Ty Lee don’t get back safely, Zuko and Mai are going to be alone. They can’t do that to them. He _refuses_ to do that to them.

Ty Lee started to cry again. “I – I didn’t know when to tell you all. I haven’t even told Mai yet.”

“How far along are you? Could Katara tell?” Sokka dared to ask.

“Nine weeks.”

Sokka sucked in a deep breath to try and steady himself. Well, at least he was right about it happening on his birthday.

_Nine weeks_. That’s when Mai had lost the baby last time. Ty Lee was right when she said that they hadn’t planned for this pregnancy, they were careful, but sometimes “things happen that are out of your control,” that’s what Aang always said. This was certainly one of those times.

It was only just after Izumi’s first birthday that they had all decided they couldn’t wait to have another, and to try again. That time had been much less meticulously calculated; Izumi had to be Zuko’s, because no matter how much Zuko said he wouldn’t care, they all knew that the fire sages would be much more hesitant to recognize an adopted child as the heir to the throne. It all came down to that ridiculous dragon blood myth about the royal family, and Zuko had said he always found it absurd. But after Sokka had learned of Zuko and Aang’s encounter with the last dragons... well, he supposed anything was possible. So now that Zuko had a clear and apparent heir – as anyone would be able to tell by one look at Izumi, she looked far too like her father when she pouted and Sokka found it entirely too endearing – Zuko had been insistent that he still didn’t care if the next kid was his by blood.

Six months ago, they had first tried for a second child, and when Mai had gotten pregnant again, they were ecstatic. But the spirits had different plans, and due to no circumstances of their own, Mai had a miscarriage. And it had broken them. They had only known about the new baby for two weeks before it had happened, but Sokka remembered what it felt like when they found out. It felt like a hole had been punched through his chest, like he would never breathe right again.

The what ifs had kept him up at night for months, and he knew it had the same effect on Zuko, with how much he had tossed and turned. The four of them had taken to sleeping in the same bed for the first few weeks after they found out what had happened. Zuko refused to leave Mai alone, because he knew her, and he knew she was blaming herself for something out of her control.

“I don’t need babysat!” Mai had snapped one night after Sokka had plopped down on hers and Ty Lee’s oversized bed. “Your room is down the hall, just go!”

“We aren’t babysitting you,” Zuko had mumbled, his voice slightly muffled by the large blanket he was carrying into the Fire Ladies’ chambers. “We just – isn’t this something we should all go through together?”

“I can handle this alone!” Mai had shouted, turning away from him.

“You don’t have to, though. Don’t you want us all to be there?” Ty Lee had whispered to her soulmate, pulling her back down on the bed. “Let’s go get Izumi’s cradle, we should go to bed. It’ll be nice for us all to be here as a family.”

Mai had claimed she’d only agreed to make Ty Lee happy and to get Zuko off her back, but they all knew she secretly just didn’t want to be alone in her grief.

And if the workers in the palace noticed how close they had been during those weeks, months, after the event, they didn’t bring it up. No one had even known about the pregnancy at that point.

Sokka was beginning to wonder if that’s how this anonymous “informant” that Zursun claimed was in the castle got the idea that Ty Lee was pregnant by Zuko. If it was a servant or a guard, there were no shortage of chances for them to have been caught leaving the other’s chambers. It’s easy to jump to conclusions when most of the castle was still under the impression that Zuko and Sokka were merely an arranged marriage.

Although, he was still quite sure that at least two dozen or so of the maids and guards were aware of their relationship – they’d been caught enough times to warrant the workers around the palace being able to put together the pieces if they thought hard enough. All the Kyoshi Warriors knew, as well. Perhaps it wasn’t as much of a well-kept secret as they had hoped.

And now Sokka couldn’t help but feel the same panic that he had felt those many dark nights. What if it happened again? There were so many things that could go wrong during a pregnancy, certainly being held hostage wouldn’t help. Ty Lee was in danger here – their child was in danger here, they needed to get out.

“I haven’t told her,” Ty Lee choked out. “She’s my soulmate and she doesn’t even know we’re having another baby.”

“Hey, you’ll have plenty of time to tell her,” Sokka said sternly. “We’ll get out of this. Everything will be fine.”

He willed it to be true. It had to be.

-

It was four agonizing hours, and Suki still wasn’t back. The sirens had stopped ages ago, and the sun was surely going to rise soon. Zuko was pacing the length of the room, Mai holding Izumi in the corner after Izumi woke up from her slumber wanting attention. Mai had been silent since Suki had left. Zuko wished he could do something to help, but what could he do? Her soulmate was missing, and Sokka was – he wasn’t sure where Sokka was.

Even after all these years, he still struggled to pin down what Sokka was to him. First, it was a friend. Then, it was his husband. Then, going completely out of order, Sokka became his romantic partner. And now... Sokka was more than that, but he couldn’t place it. He remembered how Uncle Iroh had explained his marriage to him, years and years ago, when his face was unmarred, and his uncle was still a war general.

Zuko had asked if his aunt was Iroh’s soulmate. It was at her funeral. He was only eight, but he still should have known not to ask that; he had always been a bit uncouth, much to the chagrin of his father.

Iroh had smiled at him and said, “No, she wasn’t. It was an arranged marriage. But I loved her very much, in a way I’ve never loved anyone else. You can take destiny into your own hands, Prince Zuko. Your love is not limited to that of a soulmate.”

Even fifteen years later, Zuko remembered his words. After he and Sokka had been engaged, the words had bounced around his brain for months until he had finally worked up the nerve to kiss him.

Whatever Sokka was, he was special. He loved Sokka in a way he had never loved anyone else, just like Uncle had described; and in return, he earned boundless amounts of love that he never could’ve dreamed he was worthy of receiving.

Sokka may not be his soulmate, he knew that – Sokka would’ve told him if he could suddenly firebend. Sokka had always freely given physical contact, he would know by now. Unless Sokka maybe just had never done anything to activate it, but he was certain it would have happened by this point.

Zuko had long accepted that he probably didn’t have a soulmate. But Sokka was the closest thing he ever thought he’d get to one; he loved Sokka so strongly, so passionately, in a way he had never experienced before.

And now, being apart from him felt _wrong_. It felt so much worse now than when they had just been friends. The worry he felt when Sokka was out of his sights was like an empty space where his heart should be, like Sokka had taken it with him.

He couldn’t sit around anymore. This feeling was eating him up inside. He needed to go. If he had been hurt, Suki had taken him to the infirmary, and she probably forgot to come down and tell Zuko in her haste. He hoped Sokka wasn’t hurt badly. Surely Suki had found Sokka and Ty Lee, but they had other matters to attend to. Suki must have just forgotten to come back down in all the chaos that was certainly still going on with the aftermath of the break-in.

But he couldn’t think of a single time Suki had forgotten something important. He needed to find her and figure out what was happening.

He walked to the door and stared at Cita. “I need to find Suki.”

“Suki told us to stay put.” Cita held his gaze steadfast, refusing to back down.

“If there were still people in the palace, they wouldn’t have stopped the alarms! The bell hasn’t gone off for hours!” Zuko snapped. “Let me out, I need to find out what happened to my husband.”

Cita’s resolve faltered. “Fine,” she said. “But you will follow me until we find Suki, not a moment before.”

“Fine,” Zuko mirrored.

As they left the bunkers, Zuko was immediately struck by the mess throughout the palace. It wasn’t the broken vases, ripped tapestries, or even the fact that it looked to be nearly every piece of furniture that was overturned – but the scorch marks on the walls, even some parts of the stone floors that were uneven and jagged in an unnatural fashion. In one wall, were a collection of deep, small holes, and below it a puddle. It looked like when Katara would practice her aim, specifically ice daggers. There were waterbenders here too? _And_ earthbenders? They didn’t have any earthbenders or waterbenders on the guard, so it must be from the intruders.

If they had other benders on their team, it wasn’t the New Ozai Society like they had assumed. They were all Fire Nation supremacists; they wouldn’t have let Earth Kingdom people on their force, and especially not people from the Water Tribe. So then... who _were_ these intruders?

Cita led him around the palace, passing where guards were assessing damage. Zuko was just grateful that nearly all of the servants had gone home and weren’t caught in the crossfire. If any of them were here, he could only hope they had gotten to a safe place; some of those workers had been here far longer than him, and they knew the castle better than he did as well. He was certain they would be able to find hiding spots much better than he would have.

Cita made a face as she looked away from the damage. “Let’s go to the East Wing. I’m sure that’s where everyone is.”

Zuko nodded and followed her. When Cita rounded the corner, he heard her gasp. He picked up his pace to see, and stopped cold when he stood beside her. On the wall, written in black paint, covering Sokka’s rarely used bedroom door, his own chambers, Izumi’s, and even Mai and Ty Lee’s, was one word.

“Reparations,” Zuko whispered. He tried to unpack the word itself. He had been trying for all these years as Fire Lord to try and give reparations to the other nations, but there’s only so much he can do with a council and colonies to answer to. He does his best, and Sokka’s guidance helped.

But he knew so many people were still angry, that they thought no reparations could be enough to forgive the Fire Nation’s crimes. They wanted revenge.

His eyes widened. He opened the door to Sokka’s room and found Suki there. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief that she was okay, but he felt angry. Why hadn’t she come back? Why hadn’t she brought Sokka down to the bunker? Doesn’t she know how worried he’s been?

Suki was sitting on the floor, leaning against Sokka’s unmade bed. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her knees. Now he was worried, he had never seen Suki sit like this in his life. It was the same way he had always sat when his father had yelled at him as a child, when he had no one to comfort him except for himself.

“Suki? What happened? Are you hurt?” He asked, rushing to her side.

When he knelt down beside her, she pushed herself away from him. When she lifted her head, her eyes were rimmed red and a good amount of her makeup was gone, like she had rubbed it off when she was crying. He had never seen her like this.

“Sokka’s gone,” she croaked out, and started crying again.

“Gone... gone where?” Where did Sokka go? Where _would_ Sokka go besides to try and find his family?

Suki sniffled and thrust a note out. A crumpled piece of parchment, written on Sokka’s stationary. But the handwriting wasn’t Sokka’s. He glanced at the desk in the corner of the room. The ink well was uncovered, like it had been recently used. He felt a chill run up his spine. Someone was in Sokka’s room, someone that wasn’t him.

Suki looked up at him with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen. She looked away from him.

With shaky hands, Zuko unrolled the parchment. He stared at it. He read it, then... stared.

_The Fire Nation’s crimes cannot be reconciled._

_Consider this our reparations._

_\- The Order of the Garden Gate_

He stared at the words. Garden Gate? Like the pai sho tile? He could only think of his uncle and the Order of the White Lotus. He hoped the two things weren’t related, but he knew deep down that they must be.

He thought of the uneven floors and the holes in the walls. The ice daggers, the rocks. This Order of the Garden Gate must be a group of people from the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe; maybe even a few angry Fire Nation citizens, more than likely from the colonies.

He knew people from the other nations were still angry, they had ever right to be. He himself had personally wronged many people during his time as a teenager, before he joined the Avatar’s quest to bring about peace. And ever since, he’s been trying to _keep_ the peace, trying to keep balance.

And the word on the wall. Reparations. Try as he might, the Fire Nation soldiers deployed during the war had ended so many innocent lives. They hunted waterbenders, they locked up earthbenders, they wiped out the Air Nomads. One thing that Zuko still hasn’t been able to fix was the stolen Earth Kingdom land. The colonies were hard to figure out, because his people had been on that land for a century at this point, and many of them have both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation blood, to try and separate them from the nation they’ve known their whole lives... he hasn’t figured out a way to make that right yet.

He hasn’t moved fast enough for most people. Sokka would always tell the ambassadors it would take time to put things right, after a century of damage. King Kuei understood, albeit grudgingly. He and the King, as well as both of their advisors, met biannually to try and figure out the best way to do this. All their plans had failed so far, and he knew it was only making the Earth Kingdom citizens angrier as time passed.

Zuko had a lot of enemies. There were thousands of people that the Fire Nation had killed, even more that they had plundered and burned. There is no amount of reparations that could make up the lives lost due to his forefathers’ quest for power. They wanted vengeance, not reparations.

But he couldn’t understand what they meant by the second line. _Consider this our reparations._

_What_ are their reparations?

“This doesn’t answer where Sokka is,” he said to Suki.

Suki took a deep breath, and whispered, “We found some things in the armory... we think Sokka went in there and was cornered. Maybe he was chased out there, we... we’ll need to conduct a full investigation – ”

“Suki,” he interrupted. “ _Where is he_?”

Suki whimpered before letting the words come out quietly, as if she never wanted to say them. “He’s dead.”

Zuko had always hated the phrase his mother had used a few times, saying, “blood turned to ice.” She had said it a few times to describe plays, or when she was reading those old theatre scrolls to him on those nights that he couldn’t fall asleep as a child. But more so than that, he never understood the phrase, he thought it was a ridiculous metaphor. Blood doesn’t turn to ice, it’s impossible.

But now, Zuko understood.

It felt like everything in his body had stopped. Like his body was preparing to shut down. He was rooted to the spot. It felt as if someone had literally frozen his body solid.

There was nothing in the world that could compare to this. Zuko had suffered a lot in his life, and it made him a better man, that was what Uncle Iroh said. He thought he had suffered when his mother disappeared. He thought he had suffered when he was scarred and banished, or when he betrayed his uncle. He thought he had suffered when he had to fight his sister, when she had struck him with lightning, when he had to lock her up.

This was worse. This was something he had never felt before. It was worse than heartbreak, worse than grief, worse than anguish. Those words – he felt like _he_ was dying.

“He’s not,” Zuko whispered. “That’s not funny.” Every bone in his body felt heavy, like he was going to topple down. From where he knelt beside Suki, he started to tip over, and she steadied him with two hands on his shoulders.

Suki hesitated, before reaching into her pocket. “We found it in the armory, with his sword. I – I didn’t want you to go in there, so I...” she stopped. She handed him what was in her pocket, and he held it in both of his hands.

The headpiece. The same crown that Sokka always complained about having to wear around the palace, but still never left their chambers without. Even when Sokka wasn’t wearing it, he still had it somewhere on him. Sokka had joked it was like a betrothal necklace, but flashier and more expensive. And it had dried blood almost entirely coating it. Sokka’s blood?

Zuko gasped and dropped it. It clattered noisily as the gold hit the stone floor, and it echoed in the empty room.

“I’m so _sorry_ , Zuko,” Suki sobbed. “It’s my fault, I should have stayed closer, I shouldn’t have let him get away from me. He’s gone, and it’s my fault.”

Zuko started to cry, his breath hitched in his throat, but he simply shook his head. He couldn’t find the will to speak. He wanted to tell Suki it wasn’t her fault, that Sokka could escape anyone if he wanted to. He wanted to say it was his fault for having Sokka stay away from their chambers tonight – maybe something would have been different, maybe he’d still be alive, maybe –

His mind was racing, he was struggling to comprehend why someone would go after Sokka. As far as the other nations knew, as far as the citizens of the Fire Nation itself knew, their marriage was purely political. Yes, it was well known that they were close. They had survived a war together, they were ruling a country together, even raising a child together. But certainly, if this group had Water Tribe citizens, they wouldn’t go after one of their own just because they know Sokka is friends with the Fire Lord, even if he was helping the Fire Lord rule. It had to be more than that.

But if someone had found out that their union was bigger than what meets the eye, if someone had told this Garden Gate society that Sokka was _more_ than just a pawn in an arranged marriage – if they knew that Zuko truly loved Sokka, that killing Sokka would hurt Zuko in a way unimaginable, in a way that would devastate him so much that it would roll over the Fire Nation, the whole world, like a cloud of smoke –

Then it was _his_ fault. It was Zuko’s fault that Sokka was dead.

“Lord Zuko, Suki,” a voice from behind said. He turned to see Cita again. She looked grim. “We found something in Mai and Ty Lee’s room.”

Suki took a shaky breath and stood. She looked down at Zuko. “Do you want to come with me?”

Zuko nodded numbly. He didn’t want to be alone, not in this room, not without Sokka. But he didn’t move. She leaned down and grabbed both of his hands, gently pulling so he would stand.

Zuko didn’t let go of one of her hands, and she made no move to take it back. He needed grounded, he needed someone to hold on to – Sokka used to do it, but Sokka was gone. Suki would have to do.

They walked a few doors down, and followed Cita into Mai and Ty Lee’s room. The black curtains, the lavender dresser, the red blankets, Izumi’s things in the corner of the room in shades of white and pale pink – it all, somewhat miraculously, complimented all the other elements of the room, just as Mai and Ty Lee did each other. It looked as pristine as usual, likely just as they had left it that morning. The only difference was a carefully folded note sitting on the pillows.

Cita looked from Suki to Zuko, clearly having to deliver more bad news, but wanting to do so with caution, lest they both fall apart. “It’s addressed to Mai,” Cita said carefully.

Zuko stiffened. If Mai was getting the same note that he just did, if they killed Ty Lee – but _why_ would they kill Ty Lee? If they want revenge on Zuko, on the Fire Nation itself, he can’t understand why they would target Ty Lee, she wasn’t even technically the Fire Lady.

If Ty Lee was dead, if both Ty Lee _and Sokka_ were dead – he didn’t think he’d be able to survive it. It was his fault. They were killed because of their association with _him_ , their closeness to _him_. _It was his fault._

When Suki seemed to realize that Zuko wasn’t going to take the note, she did. She read it, her eyes scanning quickly. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion, and her eyes went back to the top of the page. Zuko simply watched her. He was waiting for the blow, the news that it was his fault again, that –

“This doesn’t make sense,” Suki eventually said, looking at Cita, before meeting Zuko’s gaze. “They claim to have captured Ty Lee, and... they said they have the Fire Lord’s baby? Izumi’s downstairs, that’s – it’s not possible.” She said it with certainty. Zuko knew Izumi was still here. The intruders had been driven out of the palace hours ago, he had seen her after the coast was already clear.

The only words Zuko could possibly come up with spilled out of his mouth without thinking: “What baby then?”

_Their_ baby was safe – Izumi was safe. Mai was safe.

But Ty Lee was captured.

And Sokka was dead.

It felt wrong. It felt too horrible to possibly be true. He needed to see it for himself, he wouldn’t believe it until he saw his body –

Even so, he knew it had to be true. What other reason would there be for Sokka to leave his sword and headpiece? Sokka didn’t like to be apart from either of them. Sokka was dead.

If he felt his blood freeze before, he was overcome with the opposite. Now, his blood was _boiling_. His rage and grief fueled him. He was going to find whoever did this and kill them. He would find that society, save Ty Lee, and get her out, get her back to Mai. Then he would kill everyone who was responsible.

This whole group would die. Not a single person who was involved in this would live. Anyone with any scrap of knowledge, anyone who could have prevented it, would be dead by the time he found them. They kidnapped Ty Lee, they _killed Sokka_. He would burn it to the ground. No one will survive his wrath.

Zuko didn’t fancy himself a murderer. But the Order of the Golden Gate did.

If that’s why they killed Sokka, then that’s what he will become.


	5. Maybe A Trade Is Our Best Bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of Team Avatar arrives at the Fire Nation palace, and Zuko learns some tough things about his husband's fate - as well as his future. Mai receives a letter about exchanging Zuko's life for Ty Lee's.  
> Meanwhile, Sokka meets an old foe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys sorry for such a long time in between updates, i've been having a rough go of it these past few weeks.  
> my childhood cat passed on recently, and a lot of other things have gone wrong spiraling through that, so i was devastated for a long time and wasn't feeling mentally capable of writing.  
> that said, there's only one chapter left of this self-indulgent trope-soup, but i hope you guys enjoy this second to last installment.  
> as always, thanks for reading, and if you feel so inclined, let me know what you thought of it!  
> \- t

Mai was crying. Zuko hated seeing Mai cry. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it broke his heart.

He did this. He was the cause of her misery. The people that broke in did it because of him. And now Ty Lee had been taken.

He almost wanted her to blame him, to get angry and scream. But instead she was wrapped up in his arms as she sobbed, clutching Ty Lee’s kidnapping note in her hands. Zuko was crying too, albeit much quieter as he kept a watchful eye on Izumi. The toddler was in the corner of the room with some toys, Suki trying to keep her distracted and away from her grieving parents; Zuko didn’t want Izumi to know, not when they still had to get Ty Lee.

Mai uncurled her fist, and read the letter again. They both must have read the letter a dozen times by this point, but they still didn’t know what they were supposed to do.

Zuko had already sent a letter to Katara, he did it as soon as Mai and Izumi were up from the bunker, just after the sun rose; Katara needed to know, she needed to be the first to find out. He would need to tell everyone. Katara would certainly tell Aang, possibly Toph if she’s in Cranefish Town working on the new city they’re building. He still needed to tell Sokka’s father, his grandmother. How can he possibly tell Hakoda that he was responsible for his only son’s death?

The sun was low in the sky. He hadn’t received a response yet, but he assumed Katara may have just gotten it; that, or she was already on her way. Air Temple Island wasn’t too far, she could be here in less than a day.

Now they were back in the bunker, Suki telling them that when they slept, they would all be in the bunker until the culprits were caught. Zuko wanted to protest – it would be much harder for him to go off and find Sokka’s killers if Suki had him under lock and key underground – but then he saw the drawn look on her face and couldn’t bring himself to argue.

Zuko hasn’t slept since the morning of the day that his mind will never be free of. When he had woken up almost thirty-seven hours ago, completely unaware of what was going to happen. Sokka had complained about how he always woke him up those early mornings. (“Who made up the rule that firebenders rise with the sun? Stay in bed with the Sokka instead.”)

He wished more than anything he had taken Sokka up on that offer. To stay in bed. He could have skipped the meeting at the refinery, then the owner wouldn’t have demanded an audience for later that night, and he wouldn’t have had to ask Sokka to sleep in his own chambers that night – he would have been there to protect him.

Zuko still wasn’t great at not pushing off sleep to finish his work, but he hadn’t stayed up for this many consecutive hours since just after he and Sokka had been married. Sokka had always been the one to force him to bed.

Sokka would laugh and say that even the Fire Lord needed his beauty rest. (“What about the next time someone wants to dedicate a statue in your honor? Do you know how long it will take a sculptor to carve those bags under your eyes? Don’t be disrespectful to the artist, your flaminess.”)

Zuko closed his eyes as he thought of the memories fondly, trying to ingrain it in his mind forever. He wasn’t sure he was ever going to be able to sleep again, not without Sokka by his side.

Once Mai seemed to compose herself, she took a shaky breath, and said softly, “They say that they’ll send more information, but – how do we know that Ty Lee’s still alive? And what baby are they talking about?”

Zuko sucked in air sharply at the thought. “No. She’s alive. You’d feel it if she was gone. She’s your soulmate.” He couldn’t answer the second question, but hopefully the follow up letter would provide answers.

Mai nodded numbly.

Zuko heard a sharp knocking at the door, and his breath hitched as he looked toward it. Cita carefully opened a fan, and lifted the eye slit in the door. She sighed in relief and unbolted the door.

It slid open quickly, to reveal Katara, Aang, Toph, and Iroh. As Zuko rose to his feet, Mai refused to let go of him, which resulted in him dragging her up with him. It was only when Zuko stood to face them, just staring, that she stepped away from him, turning away from their friends to try and hide her puffy eyes and swollen cheeks.

He couldn’t find the words. “I’m sorry” wouldn’t even begin to cover it. Katara, who was noticeably pregnant at six months, with tears in her eyes, rushed towards him. She threw her arms around him, and let loose a sob. He can tell this wasn’t the first time she had cried that day, if the look on Aang’s face was anything to go by. So he simply held her closer and she sobbed louder. Toph approached Suki, who immediately enveloped her with a hug.

When Suki pulled away from the hug, she asked the group, “How’d you get here so fast?”

Iroh approached Izumi, who immediately screeched out a loud “Pop-pa!” as he picked her up.

She played with his beard as he answered, “I made a deal with the guards here, they tell me when anything important happens right when it happens.” Zuko turned to glare at a member of the royal guard, and Iroh tutted, “Don’t get angry at them, they were following orders; we all just want what’s best for you. I got my letter a few hours before they did, it gave me time to get to Air Temple Island before they left.”

“I was already in Cranefish Town, Aang came to get me,” Toph added. “I guess Uncle Iroh figured out Appa was the quickest way here.”

Katara pulled away from Zuko, and Izumi immediately caught her eyes. Izumi squirmed and reached her hand out. She seemed overwhelmed by all the new arrivals, but they were all familiar faces. She recognized them, even as a baby, and she was determined to greet all of them. When Katara plucked her from Iroh’s grasp, she babbled out an excited flurry of “’Tara! Aun’ ‘Tara!”

Katara chuckled wetly as she used her free hand to wipe at the tears on her face. “Hello, darling girl.”

Aang approached Mai, and said something to her so softly that Zuko couldn’t hear what it was. But Mai looked at him gratefully, and when he hugged her, Mai reciprocated. Sokka had always found it weird that Aang and Mai had built such a close friendship, but it always made sense to Zuko; if Mai loves Ty Lee, then of course she likes Aang, the two of them have the same energy. It’s the same reason why it can be so exhausting to be in the same room as Aang and Ty Lee for too long.

His uncle placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a gentle look. “Nephew,” Iroh began. “How are you?”

Zuko simply shook his head, but when he fell into his uncle’s arms, he broke down in the same way he had when he first found out. He cried, and it sounded like everyone else was too, but the blood pounding in his ears restricted him from hearing it too well. Eventually, he pulled away. He couldn’t feel embarrassed or ashamed in front of these people; they were family, and he was long past feeling the need to hide his emotions from his family.

Izumi folded over, forcing Katara to lean with her to avoid Izumi toppling to the ground. “Baby? My baby?” she asked, patting Katara’s stomach.

Katara’s eyebrows drew together for a moment. Izumi kept touching her stomach like that would help her aunt understand her words, before Zuko realized what Izumi meant.

“Sokka told her when you were last here that the baby was going to be her cousin. He kept saying ‘your baby cousin’ but cousin’s too hard of a word for her. She’s been saying that it’s her baby since last week,” Zuko let out quietly.

Katara’s face grew pained as her eyes welled with tears again.

Izumi looked around, confused. “Aun’ ‘Tara sad? Sad no baby?” Izumi asked, her little hand coming up to Katara’s cheek.

Katara gave her niece a small smile, saying, “Auntie Tara is sad. No baby yet, but you’ll be the first to know.”

Izumi grinned, showing off the baby teeth that had grown in. “’Zumi help?”

Katara held her tightly in a close hug. “You’re already helping.” Katara sat down on the bed in the corner of the room. Aang took a seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and Izumi began playing with the frill of his robes before settling on deciding to use Aang’s hand as a teething ring and chew on his thumb. He didn’t seem to mind, so Zuko chose to leave it alone.

Toph approached him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He returned the gesture. Her milky eyes were glancing up at the ceiling, like she was trying to figure something out.

“When we got here, it was a lot of uneven floors,” she began. “Do we know why?”

Zuko replied, “No. We have a name – the Order of the Golden Gate – but we don’t have any further information about them. We know they had waterbenders and earthbenders in their group during the siege, but that’s all.”

Iroh paused from where he had been collecting a tea set. “Golden Gate?” he inquired. When Zuko nodded, his uncle looked down in defeat. “We were afraid this would happen.” He sat down at the table. “After the war, there was a... disagreement in the Order of the White Lotus. Some of our younger members held more extreme views. They wanted the Fire Nation to pay for what they did, but reparations weren’t enough. I was a problem with many of them, so of course, I offered to step down. I thought if I left it would give them some semblance of peace, perhaps, but before I could talk to their leader, they all disappeared. It wasn’t many of them, six or seven, but they’re idealistic and young; their ranks must have grown. When they left, we thought that perhaps they had just decided the Order wasn’t for them. We should have tried harder to find them.”

Katara’s gaze whipped up at him angrily. “You _knew_? You knew, and didn’t say anything? And now Sokka’s – ” she stopped suddenly. Izumi had started playing with her necklace, and Katara was reminded that Izumi probably didn’t know yet.

Iroh stayed silent. Suki clenched her fists in frustration, before saying, “There’s nothing we can do now except find them. Any information will help.”

“The leader of their faction was a young man named Zursun,” Iroh told her. “He was the most outspoken of the group, and if I were to guess, he’s still the head of their team.”

“So what is he? What’s his deal?” Toph asked.

“He’s a nonbender from the colonies, as far as I can tell.”

“Why would someone from the colonies be leading this... group?” Mai said. “They’re still Fire Nation.”

“I don’t know anything about the struggles in his life,” Iroh responded. “While most people from the colonies are mainly of Fire Nation blood, not all of them are. His family was mainly Earth Kingdom. People that were obviously Earth Kingdom were rarely treated nicely by the kids in the colonies, I can’t imagine it was easy. Perhaps his anger stems from that, but I’m not convinced.”

Suki shook her head. “I don’t think anyone would go through with breaking and entering, as well as – ” she stopped herself, and took a steadying breath, “ – what _they_ did, just out of anger at childhood bullies. It’s got to be something more.”

“The colonies have always been mistreated,” Zuko spoke up suddenly, making everyone’s eyes snap to him. “They’re treated like lesser citizens by the rest of the Fire Nation and shunned by the Earth Kingdom for being blood of the enemy. They were bound to react harshly to their quality of life eventually. Maybe it was more than enough to create the anger of this group. They have earthbenders, it would make sense.”

Everyone was quiet, trying to digest his words. Toph turned to face Suki’s general direction, and said, “Will you show me where it happened? Maybe I could find something you missed.”

Zuko froze, and Suki took notice. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Suki whispered. “There are some weird pieces in the mix we haven’t been able to figure out.”

“I can help,” Toph insisted. “You know my feet can see things that your eyes might have missed.”

Zuko stood. “I’m coming too.”

“Zuko, no,” Suki said sternly.

“I don’t think that would be wise, nephew,” Iroh told Zuko softly.

“I need to see it. I need to help, I need to... I can’t just sit around waiting for them to send letters,” Zuko replied, in a voice that allowed no room for arguments. It was the same voice he usually used when he had to speak to crowds, or the fire sages, and he normally didn’t speak to his loved ones like that, but he needed to know what had happened.

Mai looked down at the letter that she still had clenched in one hand. She looked back up at Zuko. “I’ll do the waiting for the next letter. I’ll come find you when we get a messenger hawk.” Her voice was so uncharacteristically quiet and full of raw emotion, and it hurt Zuko to hear; but he will come back to Mai later.

Now he needed to see what had happened for himself.

Suki sighed in defeat but looked towards the rest of the group. “Does anyone else want to come?” Katara immediately stood, and Aang followed her up with more hesitance.

Iroh merely accepted the turn of events, and said, “Why don’t Mai, Izumi and I take a walk around the palace? It’s almost bedtime, I’m sure a walk would help her get to sleep.” When Mai nodded her agreement, he walked over to Katara, cooing, “Come to grandpa, little one.” Katara handed Izumi off to Iroh.

The whole group walked out of the bunker and up into the palace, where the two groups separated, both surrounded by at least a dozen guards – Zuko insisting Izumi have extra people, just in case. It was hard enough to let her leave his sight, but he couldn’t risk Izumi seeing something scarring if she came with him.

Suki led Zuko, Toph, Katara and Aang outside, her Kyoshi Warriors surrounding the team entirely as the sun vanished from the horizon. They walked towards the armory, and Suki stopped them in front of the door. “There’s something we can’t figure out about what happened,” Suki said. “Maybe you guys can help us but... well, you’ll see.”

The group entered the large armory. On the ground in the middle of the room was Sokka’s sword, looking untouched from where it must have landed the night before, if the rust colored stains on the blade were any indication. Zuko thought he was going to throw up, thinking about Sokka being stabbed by his own sword – until his eyes caught something much weirder.

Beside the sword, was what he could recognize as a charred body, the outline of what used to be skin coating the bones, the only part of the body that remained. Blood had stained the floor around the body too. His breathing hitched. He felt Aang grab hold of him to keep him from falling, but his knees were giving out. Beside him, Toph stomped a bit, and tilted her head, before pulling a face.

He couldn’t see straight. Did they stab Sokka then set him on fire? Was this their idea of justice? Revenge for all who the Fire Nation had burnt, all that Zuko himself had burnt down, that now Zuko wouldn’t even be able to see him one last time –

“That’s not Sokka,” Toph said sharply.

Zuko’s attention turned to her. “It’s not?” he asked hopefully.

Toph shook her head as she walked around the body. “No. I mean, there isn’t a heartbeat or anything that I would usually use to pick up his signature, but it’s a different body shape. It’s close, but Sokka’s taller and broader. I think... the body almost seems feminine. I can’t tell you for sure though, not without any secondary characteristics, I’m just going by bone structure on that one.”

Suki’s eyebrows drew together in confusion. “Then where _is_ Sokka’s body? They wouldn’t take the body with them, right? If they were planning to blackmail Zuko to get the body back, why would they take Ty Lee as well?”

Aang groaned, tightening his grip on Zuko so they both didn’t topple over. “None of this makes any sense.”

“Like I said, there’s some really weird things that we haven’t been able to place yet,” Suki explained. “Like the baby mentioned in the letter, or what they want in exchange for Ty Lee, or how they got in... we need to conduct a full investigation.”

Katara stopped looking at Sokka’s sword, instead turning her attention towards Suki. “Baby?”

“Yeah, the letter from the Garden Gate said that they had kidnapped Ty Lee and the Fire Lord’s baby, but it doesn’t make any sense, Izumi is still here,” Suki continued, before adding suspiciously, “Unless there’s something you know that we don’t?”

Katara pulled on the hair loops that frame her face, a nervous tick she had developed as a teenager, and whispered, “It’s not my place, but I think Ty Lee would forgive me given the circumstances.” When everyone continued to stare at her, waiting for her to answer Suki’s question, she chewed on her bottom lip. “When we came to visit last week, I noticed something about Ty Lee, and I thought maybe she would have told you by now but – ” she stopped, looking at Zuko. “Obviously not.”

“Ty Lee didn’t tell us _what_?” Suki pressed.

“She’s pregnant.”

For the second time that day, Zuko’s whole world seemed to stop moving. He tried to think back, tried to remember. Had Ty Lee been with someone other than them? He doesn’t think so, Ty Lee was nothing if not loyal, he can’t see her doing that to Mai in this lifetime or the next. But Mai would have told him if she and Ty Lee had gone outside their little quartet. As much as Mai liked to say she didn’t owe them any explanations, that she would only take Ty Lee into consideration with matters of doing whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted – she still always told them what was happening when she thought it was important. _This_ seemed important. Which means Mai also must not know about Ty Lee.

“How long has she been pregnant?” Aang asked after a stunned silence fell over the group.

“Two months,” Katara mumbled.

Two months. What had happened two months ago? Two months ago was right after his and Sokka’s anniversary, it was when they had that meeting with King Kuei over an embargo that was going on in some of the colonies. Most important of all, two months ago was when everyone had come to the Fire Nation for Sokka’s birthday. What all did they do on Sokka’s birthday? He remembered the party vaguely, all their friends and family came to visit, afterwards they put Izumi to bed and then Mai and Ty Lee came over and –

Oh. Okay, he remembered.

Then that means... 

“Zuko,” Toph said, drawing his attention. “Your heartbeat just got really erratic. Are you okay?”

Toph had to know that was a stupid question, but he shook his head in response anyways. “No. It’s not – it’s not my kid Ty Lee’s having. It’s Sokka’s.”

Katara let loose a soft sob, and Aang went to go to her, until he realized he was still the only thing holding Zuko up. Zuko took it upon himself to sit down on the floor. He needed to think, he needed a plan, he needed to figure out what to do next. Sokka would’ve known what to do. Sokka always knew what to do.

Ty Lee was out there somewhere, being held captive, and she was holding the last piece of Sokka he might get to have. Sokka’s body is nowhere to be found. Normally at a Fire Nation funeral, it was a ritual for the spouse, children, and other close family members to get a lock of hair just before the body was set ablaze, as a way to signify that although you were sending their body to Agni, you would never have to say goodbye forever. But with the body gone, there was no hope for that.

And his heart broke more for Izumi than it could for himself. What if Izumi doesn’t remember her father? Izumi might forget Sokka’s voice as she grew up, she wouldn’t remember the things he used to say, the way he would hold her – she might never know how much Sokka loved her, how he would have sacrificed anything and everything to keep her happy. And now Izumi won’t even get that small token of remembrance that most families would get.

He heard footsteps come up behind him. Katara whirled on the new arrival in a fighting stance. Zuko didn’t bother turning, he knew Mai’s footsteps anywhere; he could only assume that’s a similar reason to why Toph hadn’t reacted as well.

Mai sat down on the floor next to him. She was taking shaky breaths, as if trying to compose herself. Zuko started to panic. Why was she acting this way? Had something happened to Ty Lee?

Mai held out a rolled-up scroll, fresh and uncrumpled, different from the first letter.

“Messenger hawk had this for me,” she murmured. The seal had already been broken, and it was addressed to Mai herself, not Zuko. He didn’t know what to think about that. They sent it to Mai.

Mai curled in on herself, and unrolled the letter again, as if to refresh her memory. “They said what they want for Ty Lee,” she began softly, looking at Suki. “They said they’re willing to make an ‘exchange.’ If we meet them somewhere and hand over Zuko, they’ll give Ty Lee back.”

“I’ll do it,” he whispered. But no one seemed to hear him.

Suki frowned. “How do we know they’ll actually release her? What if it’s a ploy? We don’t have...” she let the words trail off.

Mai flinched at the implication of her words. “What, proof of life?” Mai spat. “I know we have no guarantee, but whether we bring Zuko or not, it’s the only shot we’ve got!”

“I’ll do it,” Zuko repeated, and this time it drew Toph’s attention. She stared in his direction in concern but said nothing. Aang and Katara had joined the conversation and were also ignoring him.

“We need to come up with an attack plan, we aren’t actually handing over Zuko,” Katara announced to the room, as if any of them had thought differently.

“We need to come up with a way that we can safely get Ty Lee away, before they realize they aren’t getting Zuko either,” Aang tacked on. “It’s all about defense. We don’t know what kind of weapons the enemy have, and we don’t know how much danger Ty Lee is in if she tries to free herself.”

“I _SAID_ – ” Zuko shouted. “I’ll do it!”

He drew Suki’s attention. “What? You can’t be seriously considering giving yourself up.”

“I am.”

“Well, the rest of us aren’t considering it,” Katara told him firmly.

“Wait, he has a point,” Toph mused. “Not that we should actually give him up, but make them think it, just until we get close enough to actually fight back.”

“How will we know when’s too close? What if they want Zuko to come alone?” Suki asked.

Mai brandished the letter again. “It says for Ty Lee’s safe return, I’m supposed to write back within twenty-four hours. We need to make the exchange within forty-eight of that. They probably addressed the letter to me assuming that Zuko wouldn’t willingly give himself up, and I would be willing to betray him to get Ty Lee back,” she spat bitterly.

“Well… let’s let them think that,” Suki suggested. “Say that you’ll bring Zuko, but they’ll have to play along until they have a chance to get him, while they release Ty Lee to you. They’ve got to know Zuko isn’t easy prey, and they sent it hoping you’d make it easier for them. They want to fight him when he’s off guard so they can catch him by surprise.”

Aang turned to Zuko. “It’s your call. You need to decide if you’re willing to play along with this. Just until we get Ty Lee back.”

Zuko nodded, and rested his head on his knees. He heard Suki start to formulate a plan. She declared that they weren’t going in there half-cocked, they were going in with a concrete plan, a back-up plan for that, and a back-up _back-up_ plan for that.

But Zuko knew if it came down to it, and they were either taking him, or hurting Ty Lee, which he will do. He doesn’t care how the others will try and fight on his behalf. If the options are him or Ty Lee, it will be Ty Lee going home. The Fire Nation would thrive under Mai’s rule, she was the Fire Lady, she almost knew even more about politics than he did. If he does die, Izumi will still have both of her mothers. They’ll be able to take care of his nation, too.

He couldn’t protect Sokka, but now Ty Lee had the last thing of Sokka’s he might ever be able to keep safe. If he was determined to get her back safely before, he was obsessed with it now. He didn’t care if he didn’t make it back.

As long as they did.

-

Sokka was pacing on the deck. The sun had set hours ago, but he was watching the skies. He knew they had sent a letter to the palace, but he didn’t know what it said. And he didn’t know if ‘Kyamo’ would ask about it or if she already knew, so he said nothing.

“ – one’s gotta do it!” a voice from behind him shouted.

He turned to see Syza and a group of people arguing on the quarterdeck, in front of the hallway.

“Not me!” One man in green clothes declared. “She kicked me last time, see!” He lifted his chin to show the dark bruise that had formed there in the past day. Sokka hid the smirk that was trying desperately to be seen.

“Well, Zursun says we can’t just leave her down there!” Syza barked. “If she gets sick or loses the baby, you think the Fire Lord will come easy?” At the silence of the rest of the crew, she seethed, “We want this over _quickly_ and _quietly_. If they accept Zursun’s location, then we’ll be in the colonies. Some of our own citizens are there, we don’t want too many unnecessary casualties.”

“What if he puts up a fight?” A different man asked.

“He’s certain to,” Syza answered with a shrug. “But if we don’t give back damaged goods, he’s less _likely_ to fight us.”

Sokka bit his tongue hard. Equating Ty Lee to damaged goods? He had to stop himself from defending her, but it’s hard for him to pretend to be someone else for this long. He really wasn’t a talented liar; frankly, he’s surprised he got this far.

Mostly he hated that Syza was right. Zuko would surrender, especially if he knew Ty Lee was okay. Zuko would give himself to save anyone – he had proved it time and time again, Ty Lee was no different. He would fight though, if Ty Lee had been hurt. He might fight anyway if he saw the opportunity; in that regard, he still reminded Sokka of the teenager Zuko had been when they first met, always searching for a fight.

This time, the small smirk does hit his face, and apparently the fact that he stopped pacing has drawn Syza’s attention. Her eyes narrowed. “What?” she hissed.

Sokka cleared his throat. “Nothing. Just funny that you all are scared of her.”

“Well if you’re not scared, why don’t you do it,” one of the women on deck scoffed. Sokka shrugged, and gestured downstairs. The same woman looked surprised, but handed him a small tray of food, saying, “Your funeral.”

Sokka smirked slightly again. What an ironic choice of words. Syza stopped him by grabbing his forearm and saying, “You aren’t allowed to kill this one. You got to have fun the first time, but I mean it. We need her.”

Shit, what would Kyamo do? How would she react?

Sokka rolled his eyes. “You have my word.” Syza nodded and let go of his arm. He supposed that Kyamo probably hadn’t said much about herself before she officially joined this group. But it seemed even Syza knew that a Kyoshi Warrior’s word was their bond, their sacred oath. Apparently, she took that at face value, even though Kyamo wasn’t an actual Kyoshi Warrior anymore.

He walked down the stairs to Ty Lee’s cell. There was a guard in the corner of the room, who immediately sat up from the chair he was slouched in. It was a teenager, couldn’t be more than eighteen. Every time he saw the kid, he grew upset. What had happened in this young man’s life to make him so hateful that he was okay with murder?

“Are you feeding her? Am I off duty?” he asked eagerly.

Sokka waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, get out of here.”

The kid left quickly. Sokka couldn’t help but grin at Ty Lee. That was easier than either of them thought it would be. He slid the tray through the slot and sat down on the floor across from Ty Lee. When he was sure they were alone, he whispered, “How are you doing?”

Ty Lee grabbed the rice first. “I’m okay. I’d be much worse if you hadn’t come to see me last night.” He let her eat in silence for a moment, before she asked, “Did you find out what they sent to Zuko and Mai?”

“Some kind of ransom note, but I don’t know exactly what it said,” Sokka said with a shrug. “I only know that it’s basically saying that if they want you back alive, then they have to hand over Zuko. They sent it to Mai.”

Ty Lee cocked an eyebrow. “They can’t honestly think that Mai wouldn’t show Zuko.”

“I don’t think they know how close they are. Most of the people outside the palace don’t know a lot of what’s going on with us, let alone people from other nations.”

Ty Lee offered him a bit of bread with an outstretched arm through the bars, but he rejected it with a shake of his head and pushed it back through. Normally he wasn’t one to turn down food, but this wasn’t a normal time. Besides, he didn’t know if they brought Ty Lee down anything for breakfast either. At any rate, he figured it’s best not to take anything from a woman eating for two.

There was a loud clanking noise from up on deck. It sounded like something had hit the ship, or at least the railings. They couldn’t have docked, they were still too far out at sea. Maybe they were letting some allies board from another vessel. Then he heard more footsteps, and they sounded like Fire Nation army boots.

Ty Lee’s eyes widened, recognizing the sound as well. Sokka hurried back up to the deck, and stayed by the hall, trying his best to look casual. But as his eyes locked on the boarding party, he wanted to scream. Sokka had only met the man now on the deck once before, but he had hoped it would be the last. He was a source of misery for their family, and a constant looming threat that had finally come to fruition.

“Ukano,” Zursun said, greeting the man in a Fire Nation bow. “Welcome aboard.”

Mai’s father.

This just got much more complicated.


	6. Maybe We Still Get Our Happy Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Avatar has to come up with a plan to get Ty Lee back without letting the Order of the Golden Gate take Zuko.  
> Everything gets revealed, people get hurt, and Sokka finally tells Zuko what he needed to say all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi everyone, welcome to the final chapter, thanks for being patient with me while i finished it!  
> side note, the order of the golden gate is made up, but mai’s father ukano did actually found the new ozai society, but he was also a dumbass bastard man so i feel like this chapter is pretty in character for him. just in case you haven’t read the comics, i wanted to clear that up! i write it in the second chapter but that was weeks ago when i wrote it, so i just wanted to establish it again.  
> thanks, and enjoy!

After Mai had sent back a letter agreeing to the Order of the Golden Gate’s terms, everyone gathered in the bunker again.

“We can’t go in there without a plan,” Suki began. “They have to know you won’t be coming alone.”

“I’m surprised they think Zuko will be easy to capture,” Aang interjected.

Suki shrugged. “That’s probably the only reason they took Ty Lee, to try and get him compliant. And we don’t know how they got into the palace in the first place.”

Zuko frowned. “There’s a handful of entrances built into the ground outside the palace. Azula and I used to play around in them by running around the tunnels to try and see where we’d end up.”

“I remember those,” Mai said. “That could be it.”

“I don’t even know where most of those tunnels start or end, so someone else must have come first to figure it out,” Zuko continued. “The tunnels may be unused now, but we would still hear a few dozen people if they were running behind the walls for an hour. Someone knew that the tunnels existed, and how to navigate them.”

“A worker at the palace, maybe?” Toph suggested. “We could interview some of them, figure out who it was. I’m the lie detector, I’ll figure it out if you let me talk to them all.”

“It would take you days to talk to everyone that’s here,” Suki said. “Besides, I doubt the person that’s responsible stayed in the palace. I’m betting they wouldn’t stay at the scene of the crime.”

“They want us to meet them tomorrow night to make the exchange,” Mai began softly. “In Zusa Village.”

“We need to come up with an attack plan,” Suki reiterated. “There’s still a lot of variables though. We don’t have – ” she cut herself off, her eyes flickering to Zuko. “We don’t know where Sokka is still.”

Zuko nodded, his face grim. “We’ll find him. Ty Lee’s coming home; so is he.”

-

Later that night, Sokka tried to stay behind the group of people on the deck. He did his best to look casual, but he was fuming on the inside. So not only was Ukano a traitor to the nation and a terrible father, but he was also guilty of the aiding and abetting the kidnapping of his daughter’s soulmate. There really were no limits this guy wasn’t willing to sink to.

He was just glad he had found some of the white face paint in one of the pockets of the uniform; it had begun to wear off last night, and he would have been found out for sure, especially by Ukano, who actually _had_ seen his face a few times. There wasn’t any of the red paints, but just the white would have to do until he got back to Zuko.

“Did it work?” Ukano asked, addressing Zursun.

“Perfectly, the entrances were there and unguarded, just as you said,” Zursun answered. “We’re one step closer to getting the Fire Lord.”

Sokka bit his tongue hard to stop the string of curse words that were sure to escape the second he opened his mouth. In the darkness, he heard before he saw a hawk. It had a scroll on its back, and lands on Zursun’s outstretched arm. He took the letter, and the bird flew off.

Zursun unrolled the scroll and smiled after a moment of silence. “Well, it appears we will have ourselves a Fire Lord tomorrow night!” he shouted to group. They cheered, and Sokka did his best to play along.

Zursun went into his quarters, and he saw Syza and Ukano follow him. He huffed. Where were they going tomorrow night to get Zuko? He needed to find out.

He waited for the rest of the crew members to disperse, going to their own cabins or elsewhere below deck. Sokka snuck around to the other side of Zursun’s office, and noticed the porthole was open. _Perfect_.

He slid down the wall and sat beneath the window, listening in.

“We’re well equipped and prepared for a fight. Even if the Fire Lord isn’t expecting us, he won’t go down easy,” Syza’s voice declared. Sokka heard shuffling, like she was reading some papers. “I doubt the girl will bring an army, not when she knows her soulmate’s life is on the line.”

“So, she’s going to betray him?” Ukano’s voice said. “That doesn’t sound like my daughter at all, but perhaps she’s finally come to her senses.”

“But if your daughter won’t step aside?” Zursun urged lowly. “If she goes back on her word... what do you expect us to do?”

“Collateral damage,” Ukano said. “Sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”

There was a pause, before Zursun said, “We completely agree.” A cork, then splashing into three separate glasses. “Let’s have a toast then.” A pause. “To the end of the of the monarchy!”

The sound of two glasses clinking together. A palpable silence. Sokka held his breath.

“What?” Ukano said angrily. “The plan was to get Zuko out of the way, so that Lord Ozai could take his place once more. Or at least Princess Azula could!”

“Well,” Zursun said. An audible sip. “Plans change.”

“What are you going to do with the circus freak then?” Ukano sneered.

“The girl will be taken care of,” Zursan began calmly. “So will the little princess. But that’s for me to worry about.”

“ _I’m_ the one who told you how close she was with the Fire Lord and his savage!” Ukano shouted. “ _I’m_ the one who figured out how to get you into the palace! You can’t do this without me!”

“You say that,” Zursun chuckled. “But you’re wrong. We’ve already received your daughter’s confirmation. In fact, she doesn’t even know you’re involved in this. The location is set to make the exchange. We don’t need you anymore. Not at all.”

Sokka inhaled sharply at the dark silence that followed. If Ukano didn’t play his cards right, he would be –

“You’re a fool if you think you can get rid of me that easily!” Ukano barked.

“I’m many things, a fool isn’t one of them,” Zursun said coldly. “Syza?”

The sound of a blade unsheathing. Ukano started to scream but was cut off by a hand over his mouth. A sickening slice of a blade through flesh.

“My apologies, Ukano,” Zursun’s voice said smoothly. “But sacrifices must be made for the greater good.”

Sokka didn’t need to hear any more.

He crept back into the galley, his heart beating fast. He knew they wouldn’t hesitate to kill again; they thought that Kyamo had killed him, it sounds like they’re planning to kill Zuko – of course they would get rid of Ukano if he became a problem and was no longer of use.

He took a few shaky breaths as he walked down the hall, looking into the room where they kept Ty Lee. She was laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, hands on her stomach. He sighed in relief. Ty Lee was fine. He was fine.

He had to keep it together. They still thought he was on their side. Ty Lee was still useful to them, they’re not going to kill her, she was their bargaining chip.

They just had to make it until tomorrow. He could do that.

-

The boat was heading back to shore, of that Sokka was sure. Where though, he couldn’t tell. If Syza’s words last night were to be believed, they were going somewhere in the Fire Nation colonies, but that could really be anywhere on the shore of Earth Kingdom territory.

The sun was already high in the sky, and Syza had announced to the crew that morning that they would be arriving at sundown. She had said to “be prepared.” Prepared for what, Sokka didn’t know. So he kept the two fans on his belt, constantly touching them to make sure they were still there.

Surely Zuko had told everyone what had happened. Zuko wasn’t going alone, none of their friends would let that happen, Suki would go with him into any life or death scenario.

Thinking about Suki hurt too much to linger on; he knew she must be blaming herself for what happened. He wished there was some way to communicate with her that he was okay, but there wasn’t. And even if they had found the charred body of Kyamo and figured out it wasn’t him, they wouldn’t know where he was still; they would still assume he’s dead. 

Zuko would have told Katara by now. Sokka could only hope that Katara wouldn’t go with Zuko, given how far along she was in her pregnancy, but he also knew that was wishful thinking. Aang may be able to convince her to stay on defense instead of offense, but Katara was never one to run away from a fight.

If Katara went, so would Aang. And if Aang and Katara were there, Toph probably was, too. Toph would always go, she was really their best weapon, especially considering they were going into unknown terrain. Mai would go. He could only assume that someone else would stay with Izumi.

He was assuming that all of them would go with Zuko, they would never let him fight alone. He was counting on six.

If Zursun and Syza thought they would have an easy fight ahead of them, they were dead wrong.

-

By the time they got to Zusa Village, the sun was still up. They had time to go around the small village and warn people of what might occur in the woods near their village and tell them they should stay somewhere safe.

Zuko was looking out at the setting sun. Katara was sitting beside him, her head on his shoulder. He had just wanted to cry alone, he hadn’t had _one moment alone_ since the break-in, but Katara seemed to have decided not to let him grieve privately. He let her stay.

He thought back to the last night he and Sokka were together. (Had it really only been four nights ago, the last time they shared a bed?) Izumi had been having a fussy night then, so Sokka had read her a play. Izumi had fallen asleep in his arms eventually, and Sokka had laughed. He had leaned down to kiss Zuko and said, “See? Everyone likes a happy ending.”

When the sun dipped below the horizon and the darkness enveloped them, they stood, and shook the dirt off their pants. Katara wiped at her eyes, and Zuko did the same.

Sometimes people don’t get their happy endings. But if he couldn’t have a happy ending, he could at least get justice.

They walked back to their group, who were all sitting in a circle in the forest, staring at a map of the terrain that one of the locals had given them. Suki waved them over.

“I was thinking that Katara and Aang go up there,” she began, pointing to a ridge on the mountain just above them. “There’s a spring there according to this map, and they can attack from the high ground.” Zuko was thankful that Suki had strategically placed Katara away from the action; it’s almost like something Sokka would do, because _of course_ Katara was coming, and _of course_ she was going to fight – but she’s also pregnant, so putting her somewhere that she would receive far less damage than someone on the ground was for the best.

Katara seemed to know it as well, because she didn’t try to fight Suki on it. She nodded, and Aang squeezed her hand.

“Zuko, you’ll be here. It’s in a clearing, so they’ll think they have the upper hand, until you go into the forest, and that’s where we’ll attack. Toph and I will be here and here,” Suki continued, pointing to two spots on either side of the clearing further in the forest. “We’ll stop the first line of attackers. There’s sure to be some stragglers that will still come after you that we can’t stop, which is when Aang and Katara will attack – they’ll be expecting more of us on the ground, not any of us up higher.”

Zuko was almost wishing they had a few of the Kyoshi Warriors with them, but he had insisted that all of them stay with Uncle Iroh and Izumi. Iroh was more than capable of protecting his granddaughter, but they wanted to be sure, just in case of another attack in Caldera.

“Mai will be here,” Suki said, pointing to the docks by the shoreline. “They still think Mai is betraying Zuko – whether they actually believed her letter or not, that’s what we’re still playing as. The only way onto this island is by boat, so it’s limited entry and exit points. Once we’ve got them contained, Mai should already have Ty Lee back.”

Zuko nodded. It was a good plan. Almost like something Sokka would have come up with – Sokka was always their plan guy, but Suki was filling the part. As much as he loved Suki, as good a plan as this was, it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t Sokka.

Zuko looked at the determined faces on all of his friends, and finally landed on Suki. She nodded at him in finality.

“Okay,” he breathed out. “Let’s do this.”

-

The boat docked, and Sokka was starting to panic. He knew the danger they were walking into, and his friends surely had the advantage – but they didn’t know _he_ was on their side. They didn’t even know he was still alive. What’s to stop them from attacking _him_?

The answer was nothing, there was nothing stopping them from attacking him.

If Toph was there, she would probably be able to feel it was him through his heartbeat and whatever signatures she uses to tell people apart. He really didn’t know how exactly it worked, or how far her range was, but Toph can and _will_ kill him if she thinks he’s a threat to Zuko, so she’s the first threat he will need to deal with. Hopefully – Spirits, he _really_ hopes – she will be able to feel him coming before he’s right in front of them. Suki and Mai were also likely to inflict real damage on him, especially if he was close to Ty Lee when they saw him.

“Kyamo,” a voice snapped behind him.

Sokka turned quickly, his face impassive. Syza was staring at him, a dagger on each hip. “Come on, you’re in the second group. You’re with me and the girl.”

Oh, so he was going to be _exactly_ in the ‘collateral damage’ zone of Suki and Mai. Wonderful.

Still, he followed her instructions and went over to where Ty Lee was standing on the deck. They had her wrists chained and her feet as well this time, clearly not underestimating the power of her kick again. There was enough space in between the chains on her feet that she could still walk, but Sokka doubted she’d be able to run far. Ty Lee gave him a concerned look, but he nodded at her, trying his best to communicate ‘ _everything is going to be okay_.’

Their family was out there, they would be okay. They had to be.

-

Zuko was standing in the clearing, facing towards the forest.

He turned and looked slightly left, where Suki was standing, half-hidden behind a tree, her face free of make-up as the white face paints would have shown up in the darkness. She gave him a firm nod, and then a hand gesture. Someone was approaching.

Zuko’s expression went stony. This was it. He was about to face his husband’s killers. Sokka may not have been his soulmate, but he was the closest Zuko was ever going to get – and he would get Sokka’s vengeance for him in his stead.

He waited until the footsteps stopped before he turned to face them.

About thirty people were staring back at him, a few yards away. The man in front was one he had never seen before, but judging by his uncle’s descriptions, and the power her carried himself with, he was their leader.

“Zursun, I assume,” Zuko began, clenching his fists.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me,” the man said with a smirk. “I must say, I’m flattered – the last Fire Lord remembers my name.”

“So that’s your endgame?” Zuko pressed. “End the royal line? I’ve got to tell you, that’s not very original.” He was trying to channel Sokka. If Sokka were in his position, what would he do? Sokka would stall, Sokka would anger them to get them closer, so that Suki and Toph could attack. Sokka wouldn’t lunge first, he would wait for them to strike first and retaliate strong.

“I’m not fool enough to think you’re here alone,” Zursun said coldly. “But know that if you surrender now, no one else will be harmed, not even the little circus girl.”

Zuko froze. “Where is she?” He snarled.

“She’s safe – for now. But she’s with the person that killed your husband, so you may want to hurry and make your decision.” Zursun smirked.

It was Toph that attacked first.

She encased the legs of the man closest to her in rocks, and he fell forward at the force of his legs being locked down. She barreled forward, giving them no time to react, and grabbed the earth, twisting it, burying a dozen others up to their ankles – a lot less permanent, but much quicker and more efficient in groups.

The others that were free tried to rush Zuko, but Toph managed to catch six of them, hitting them with slabs of stone. They didn’t get back up. Zuko didn’t care if they ever did. There were thirteen others, including Zursun, and they were still coming towards him. Suki leapt down from a tree, slashing a man across the shoulder with her fan. She landed gracefully and attacked another. Zuko had started throwing flames, and when he had created a line of fire in front of his pursuers, Suki looked back at him. She nodded to the forest, as if to tell him to stick to the plan.

He ran in, and he heard footsteps chasing after him.

He adjusted his path to go right under the ridge, and he heard rather than saw Aang and Katara’s attacks. There were a few screams, a gust of air, and the sound of ice daggers hitting the ground.

The _whoosh_ of fire came up behind him, and he wasn’t expecting it. It made him leap forward to avoid the flames that he could feel licking at his back, and he landed hard, gasping for air.

“Zuko!” Aang shouted. There were a few more sounds of a fight, but Zuko couldn’t pay attention to it.

Zursun leered and chuckled as he approached. “What? Weren’t expecting it?” He sent a burst of flames right at Zuko, and he rolled out of the way, quick on his feet.

Well, that plan had fallen apart quickly. Uncle had said that Zursun was a nonbender, apparently it was all a rouse that the man had kept up for a long, long time. He needed to divert his course, and he needed to do it now.

When another burst of flames came towards him, he split it, turning it into nothing on either side of him. Zuko sent his own fire towards the man, right at his face. He knew it wouldn’t land, but that wasn’t the point, he needed to cause a distraction.

When Zursun was busy catching the fireball, Zuko turned and ran towards the docks. He needed to find Mai, hopefully Aang or Toph will catch up with him there.

-

Sokka was standing next to Ty Lee, Syza on her other side. Sokka was feeling twitchy, waiting for Mai to arrive. It was just the three of them meeting Mai, and Sokka _really_ didn’t like those odds.

Mai appeared from the forest, glowering and looking more murderous than usual. When she was a few feet away, Syza called, “That’s close enough.”

Mai stopped. Her eyes were on Ty Lee, seemingly checking her over for injuries. Sokka had a hand around Ty Lee’s forearm – to Syza, it would appear like he was keeping her in place, but he was rubbing his thumb along her skin to try and give her some semblance of comfort before she could get back to Mai.

He could see Mai slide a knife out from her sleeve and discreetly into her hand. He could only hope that Syza hadn’t noticed it as well.

“Zuko is in the forest like you asked,” Mai snarled harshly. “Now. Give. Her. _Back_.”

“How can we be sure that we have the Fire Lord though?” Syza asked.

“Your team’s incompetence is not my fault, I held up my end of the deal!” Mai shouted.

  
Syza pulled a dagger from her belt and pointed it towards Ty Lee’s neck. “Choose your next words wisely,” Syza growled.

Mai’s face dropped. “Just – just let her go, and we’ll leave.” To anyone else, Mai might not sound different, but Sokka could hear the pleading undertone. He had never heard Mai sound like that in his life.

From the forest, there was shouting, the rumbling of earth, and the unmistakable sound of flames. Zuko appeared from the forest, rushing onto the sand and towards the docks.

Sokka felt the same wave of affection he always did when he saw Zuko, and he couldn’t help the smile that slid across his lips. He was quick to hide it, but he saw that Ty Lee was grinning too. Zuko _and_ Mai were here. They were going to be fine.

Syza narrowed her eyes at Mai. “Sounds like you made this more difficult than it needed to be.”

Zursun was quick in pursuit of Zuko. He shouted clearly across the distance between them all, “Finish the plan! _Kill her_!”

“What?” Sokka gasped.

“NO!” Mai screamed. She aimed a knife at Syza, but Sokka knew it wouldn’t get there before Syza would stab Ty Lee.

It felt like time was moving in slow motion. His eyes flickered to Zuko again, and his words from long ago echoed in Sokka’s mind again.

_Give yourself the advantage._

In the same instant as Syza’s arm came forward to stab Ty Lee’s stomach, Sokka pulled her back with one hand, out of the way of the knife. With the other, he lit a flame, and grabbed Syza’s arm.

She screamed and dropped the dagger. Ty Lee landed on the sand, falling on her back but otherwise unharmed. Mai’s knife flew past him and buried itself into a deck behind them.

Syza shouted, “Traitor!” and pulled her other knife from her belt. He dodged Syza’s knife right as it descended towards his chest.

He pulled one of the fans from his belt and opened it. He really wasn’t very good with them, but he still had fire on his side.

Mai whirled to face Zuko as he continued running towards them. Another knife already thrown and aimed at Zursun. Zursun blocked Mai’s knife, and Zuko was starting to attack him as well. “Syza!” He bellowed as he put out Zuko’s flames with his own. “Do it! The Fire Family will fall tonight!”

Syza turned away from him and nodded, facing Ty Lee. Sokka was quick to step between them. Syza glared at him. She aimed at him again, and he caught it with the blade of his fan. He sent a jet of fire towards her – he really didn’t know how to control it, he just knew how to make it shoot out of his hand, but that’s all he needed right now, until he could get back to Zuko.

Syza stumbled back, and Sokka rushed over to Ty Lee. No time to look for the keys. He pulled her up to her feet, then gripped onto the chains that held her hands together and took a deep breath. He tried to focus like he had when he had to burn Kyamo’s body in the armory. He focused on the adrenaline, and making the fire controllable, and _not_ burning Ty Lee’s hands.

He looked over his shoulder as he waited for it to melt. Syza was still getting up and collecting her daggers. Zuko and Mai were winning their fight against Zursun, Mai seemingly trying to look for a distraction to get to Ty Lee.

He turned back when he started to feel melting metal between his hands, and Ty Lee gave a half-delirious laugh of celebration. The melted chains fell into the sand between her feet. Her wrists were still bound, but they were separated, and she could move and fight now, that’s what was most important. He did the same to the chains that held her feet together, this time much quicker, and Ty Lee kicked her legs apart when the metal was melted enough for her to.

The second she was free, Ty Lee lurched forward at Syza, who had gotten up and collected both of her daggers. She hit the pressure points in Syza’s left arm, making it drop uselessly at her side.

He heard the loud shaking of rock rumbling beneath them, and he couldn’t help but smile. Only two feasible options for who could produce that big of a movement.

Aang and Toph jumped down onto the beach, Toph summoning the sand beneath Zursun’s feet and hardening it to trap his ankles. Aang pulled a slab of earth from behind him, and Toph threw it forward, breaking it apart so it trapped Zursun up to his chest. Mai and Zuko finally relaxed, Mai immediately turning to run down the beach to where Sokka and Ty Lee were.

The second Toph had landed on the sand, she froze. Sokka didn’t know how well she could sense him through sand, since it was still more difficult for her to see there than metal and earth, but the wide smile that swept across her face told him all he needed to know.

“I’m not going down alone!” Syza screeched as she saw Mai and Aang running towards her. She threw the dagger with her one useful hand at where Ty Lee stood next to Sokka, and Sokka reacted on instinct.

He threw a flame at her and it knocked her onto her back. He felt a rush of pain in his stomach. Ty Lee gasped from where she stood behind him. He heard Toph let out a choked cry, before she immediately hardened the sand to bury Syza.

He saw, rather than felt, the dagger sticking out of his abdomen. He fell backward.

“ _Sokka!_ ” Ty Lee sobbed as she caught him and laid him down in the sand.

“ _Sokka?_ ” Zuko gasped out, finally turning his attention to them.

As Aang and Mai reached them, Aang turned and shouted, “KATARA!” Katara and Suki rushed forward from the forest. “Help! Healing!”

“It’s okay,” Ty Lee told him, shaky hands wiping away some of the make-up on his face. Tears were welling in the corners of his eyes. “You’re going to be fine.”

Mai landed beside Ty Lee, gripping at her wife like her life depended on it. Ty Lee continued to cry. Mai looked down at him.

Sokka tried to smile. “Hey,” he choked out. “I remembered what you said, about not taking the knife out after you get stabbed.”

Mai nodded and managed to give him a weak smile back. “You did good,” she said sincerely.

Aang and Katara dropped down on either side of him, Katara immediately summoning water from the ocean beside them. Sokka looked at them. He saw Katara nod at Aang. Aang gripped the edge of the dagger. Sokka looked away. He cried out when the dagger was ripped out of him. The cool water replaced it, and he inhaled lowly, his eyes feeling heavy.

“ _Don’t_ close your eyes,” Katara’s wobbly voice ordered. His eyes snapped back open.

He saw Suki and Toph approach him, and Zuko fell to his knees by his head. Zuko cradled his head in his lap.

Sokka smiled up at Zuko. “Missed you,” he slurred out, snapping his eyes open again.

Zuko let out a sob. “I missed you more.” Sokka focused on the feeling of the water, and Zuko’s thumbs on either side of his head.

Don’t close your eyes. Give yourself the advantage. Wait, there was something he wanted to tell Zuko the next time he saw him –

“Hey, Zuko,” Sokka began slowly. “Did you know we’re soulmates? I can firebend but I didn’t know when to tell you. Is now the right time?”

Zuko laughed and leaned down, pressing their foreheads together. “Yeah, I figured it out when I saw a Kyoshi Warrior firebending and someone calling you Sokka, dumbass.”

“Don’t be mean to me when I’m bleeding out,” Sokka scolded him, still smiling. He was already feeling better though. Maybe he wouldn’t bleed out after all.

He looked down at Katara, who was still doing her healing. After a moment, she dropped the water into the sand beside her. She said, “You’ll live.” Then she threw herself onto his chest, carefully avoiding the stab wound, and sobbed so violently he could feel it in his bones. “You bastard!” She cried. “We all thought you were _dead_ , and you were gone, and I – and we – you – ”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he said, smoothing her hair with one hand. “Also, _hey_ , I was _just_ stabbed, you can’t be too mad at me.”

Katara sat back up and wiped at her eyes. “I can and I will. Can you sit up?”

Sokka nodded, and Ty Lee and Aang helped push him up so he was sitting upright. He smiled. “Good as new!”

He was attacked by Zuko’s lips on his, and almost immediately fell backwards again into the sand at the ferocity of it. Whether it was the kiss or getting knocked down that had taken his breath away, he couldn’t say.

When Zuko let go of his face, Sokka let out a moan. “Okay, not good as new, stab wound still hurts.”

Katara scoffed. “Yeah, I can’t heal it in one minute, you’re going to need more sessions – and some fresh water, that salt water wasn’t as good as I needed it to be.”

“Right, my bad, next time I get stabbed, it’ll be by a nice stream.”

Suki pulled him in and hugged him tightly. “You will _not_ be getting stabbed again. I already told you, you can’t die. I won’t allow it. I was technically right, and now you _especially_ can’t die.”

Sokka rolled his eyes as Suki and Zuko grabbed either side of him and helped him stand. “I didn’t fake my death on purpose,” he defended. “I’ve got a lot to live for, you know! I got you guys, almost two kids, the whole shebang!”

Ty Lee giggled beside him, her head resting on Mai’s shoulder. “Yeah. It’s a nice life.”

“Now _please_ tell me you guys took an air balloon here,” Sokka said as they all began to walk down the beach, Suki and Zuko helping carry his weight. “I was on that boat for so long, I would be fine with never seeing one for the rest of my life. And I need to see Izumi again; I missed my precious little fireflake.”

“Yeah,” Zuko began. His gaze flickered to Syza, knocked out and trapped in the sand. “The Royal Guard are already rounding up everyone. Let’s just go home.”

Toph sat by Sokka on the flight back, Aang taking over keeping the flame alive so Zuko could sit on his other side. Katara was smiling at him and babbling about baby names that she and Aang had narrowed it down to, and Mai was nodding along. Ty Lee kept looking at him before she said, “Should we be taking notes?” 

“Maybe you should focus on those chains first,” Suki said with a smirk. “How’s you get them apart anyways?”

”Oh, Sokka melted them.”

Mai’s head snapped towards Sokka. “You put your inexperienced fire hands near my soulmate?”

“Hey, I didn’t even burn her,” Sokka said defensively. “I’m sorry I couldn’t use that fire to craft a key.”

“But did you even _try_?” Mai pressed.

Sokka laughed. It didn’t help the pain in his abdomen, but he didn’t care.

Zuko leaned into him more, sighing deeply, “I should’ve known you were my soulmate before you told me. You were my happy ending.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Sokka smiled at him and looked out at the rising sun. “We still get our happy ending.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a little meta at the end, but thank you guys so much for joining me on this journey! this fic was really just super self-indulgent, and i'm so happy that there were a few other people that enjoyed it as well!  
> i've got some other stories if you want to keep in touch, and as always, i would love your thoughts on the story.  
> thank you so much for reading, i hope you liked the little fic!  
> \- tay

**Author's Note:**

> hi all! spymaster sokka is a trope that i've been super obsessed with lately, and i got inspired to make my own twist on it specifically by the art of tumblr user @/sword-over-water. i also read "Those Who Favor Fire" by @CSHfic @VSfic a few weeks back and i was so obsessed with it, that i created a whole storyworld of my own around this au, so if you end up reading this and liking it, please direct your gratitude towards them for giving me a running start on this idea.  
> plus i love soulmate and arranged marriage au's, so there's that too.  
> i hope you all enjoy, thank you for reading!


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